tttxiee   Froniiiiiiece,  tisl.  one. 


MEXICO 


AND  THE  LlFfc  OF  THE  CONQUEROR 

FERNANDO   CORTES 


WILLIAM  H.  PRESCOTT 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES 


ILLUSTRATED 


VOL.  I 


mm 


Ni:w  YORK 

PETER   FENELON  COLLIER  h  SON 


:-\ ' .  M 


r* 


PREFACE, 


As  the  Conquest  of  Mexico  nas  occupied  the  pens  of  Solfe 
and  of  Robertson,  two  of  the  ablest  historians  of  their  respective 
nations,  it  might  seem  that  little  could  remain  at  the  present  day 
to  be  gleaned  by  the  historical  inquirer.  But  Robertson's  nar- 
rative is  necessarily  brief,  forming  only  part  of  a  more  extended 
work;  and  neither  the  British,  nor  the  Castilian  author,  was  pro- 
vided with  the  important  materials  for  relating  this  event,  which 
have  been  since  assembled  by  the  industry  of  Spanish  scholars. 
The  scholar  who  led  the  way  in  these  researches  was  Don  Juan 
Baptista  Munoz,  the  celebrated  historiographer  of  the  Indies, 
who,  by  a  royal  edict,  was  allowed  free  access  to  the  national  ar- 
chives, and  to  all  libraries,  public,  private,  and  monastic,  in  ihe 
kingdom  and  its  colonies.  The  result  of  his  long  labors  was  a 
vast  body  of  materials,  of  which  unhappily  he  did  not  live  to 
reap  the  benefit  himself.  His  manuscripts  were  deposited,  after 
his  death,  in  the  archives  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Historx  at 
Madrid  ;  and  that  collection  was  subsequently  augmented  by 
the  manuscripts  of  Don  Vargas  Pon^e,  President  of  the  Acad- 
emy, obtained,  like  those  of  Mufioz,  from  dilTerent  quarters,  but 
especially  from  the  archives  of  the   Indies  at  Seville. 

On  my  application  to  the  Academy,  in  1838,  for  permission  to 
copy  that  part  of  this  inestimable  collection  relating  to  Mexico 
and  Peru,  it  was  freely  acceded  to,  and  an  eminent  German 
schohir.  one  of  their  own  number,  was  nppointed  to  superintend 
the  collation  and  transcription  of  the  manuscri[)ts  •,  and  this,  it 
may  be  added,  before  I  had  any  claim  on  the  courtesy  of  that 
Ttspectable  body,  as  one  of  its  associates.  This  conduct  shows 
the  advance  of  a  liberal  spirit  in  the  Peninsula  since  the  time  of 
])r.  Robertson,  who  complains  that  he  was  denied  admissior  'o 
the  most  important  public  repositories.  The  favor  with  which 
my  own  application  was  regarded,  however,  must  chiefly  be  at- 
tributed to  the  kind  offices  of  the  venerabU^  President  of  the  Acad- 
emy, Don  Martin    Pernandez  de   Navarrete  ;  a  scholar   whoss* 


^  PREFACE 

persona?  character  has  secured  to  him  the  same  high  considera- 
ion  at  home,  which  his  literary  labors  have  obtained  abroad. 
To  this  eminent  person  I  am  under  still  further  obligations,  for 
the  free  use  which  he  has  allowed  me  to  make  of  his  own  man- 
uscripts,— the  fruits  of  a  life  of  accumulation,  and  the  basis  of 
those  valuable  publications,  with  which  he  has  at  different  times 
illustrated  the  Spanish   colonial  history. 

From  these  three  magnificent  collections,  the  result  of  half  a 
century's  careful  researches,  I  have  obtained  a  mass  of  unpub- 
lished documents,  relating  to  the  Conquest  and  Settlement  of 
Mexico  and  of  Peru,  comprising  altogether  about  eight  thousand 
folio  pages.  They  consist  of  instructions  of  the  Court,  military 
and  private  journals,  correspondence  of  the  great  actors  in  the 
scenes,  legal  instruments,  contemporary  chronicles,  and  the  like, 
drawn  from  all  the  principal  places  in  the  extensive  colonial 
empire  of  Spain,  as  well  as  from  the  public  archives  in  the 
Peninsula. 

I  have  still  further  fortified  the  collection,  by  gleaning  such 
materials  from  Mexico  itself  as  had  been  overlooked  by  my 
illustrious  predecessors  in  these  researches.  For  these  I  am  in- 
debted to  the  courtesy  of  Count  Cortina,  and,  yet  more,  to  that 
of  Don  Lucas  Alaman,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  in  Mexico  ; 
but,  above  all,  to  my  excellent  friend,  Don  Angel  Calderon  de 
la  Barca,  late  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  that  country  from  the 
Court  of  Madrid. —  a  gentleman  whose  high  and  estimable 
qualities,  even  more  than  his  station,  secured  him  the  public 
confidence,  and  gained  him  free  access  to  every  place  of  interest 
and  importance  in  Mexico. 

I  have  also  to  acknowledge  the  very  kind  offices  rendered  to 
me  by  the  Count  Camaldoli  at  Naples ;  by  the  Duke  of  Ser- 
radifalco  in  Sicily,  a  nobleman,  whose  science  gives  additional 
lustre  to  his  rank  ;  and  by  the  Duke  of  Monteleone,  the  present 
representative  of  Cortes,  who  has  courteously  opened  the  ar- 
chives of  his  family  to  my  inspection.  To  these  names  must  also 
be  added  that  of  Sir  Thomas  Phillips,  Bart.,  whose  precious  col- 
lection of  manuscripts  probably  surpasses  in  extent  that  of  any 
private  gentleman  in  Great  P.itain,  if  not  in  Europe  ;  that  of 
Mons.  Ternaux-Compans,  the  proprietor  of  the  valuable  literary 
collection  of  Don  Antonio  Uguina,  including  the  pa]:)ers  of 
Munoz,  the  fruits  of  which  he  is  giving  to  the  world  in  his  excel- 
lent translations;  and,  lastly,  that  of  my  friend  and  countryman, 
Arthur  Middleton,  Esq.,  late  Charge  d'Affaires  from  the  United 
States,  at  the  Court  of  Madrid,  for  the  efficient  aid  he  has  afforded 
me  in  prosecuting  my  inquiries  in  that  capital. 

In    addition  to    this    stock   of   original    documents    obtained 


PREFACE.  J 

through  these  various  sources,  I  have  diligently  provided  myself 
with  such  printed  works  as  have  reference  to  the  subject,  including 
the  magnificent  publications,  which  have  appeared  both  in  France 
and  England,  on  the  Antiquities  of  Mexico,  which,  from  theif 
cost  and  colossal  dimensions,  would  seem  better  suited  to  a 
public  than  to  a  private   library. 

Having  thus  stated  the  nature  of  my  materials,  and  the  sources 
whence  they  are  derived,  it  remains  for  me  to  add  a  few  observa- 
tions o'l  the  general  plan  and  composition  of  the  work. — Among 
the  remarkable  achievements  of  the  Spaniards  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  there  is  no  one  more  striking  to  the  imagination  than 
the  conquest  of  Mexico.  The  subversion  of  a  great  empire  by 
a  handful  of  adventurers,  taken  with  all  its  strange  and  pictu- 
resque accompaniments,  has  the  air  of  romance  rather  than  of 
sober  history  ;  and  it  is  not  easy  to  treat  such  a  theme  according 
to  the  severe  rules  prescribed  by  historical  criticism.  But,  not* 
withstanding  the  seductions  of  the  subject,  I  have  conscientiously 
endeavored  to  distinguish  fact  from  fiction,  and  to  establish  the 
narratheon  as  broad  a  basis  as  possible  of  contemporary  evi- 
dence ;  and  I  have  taken  occasion  to  corroborate  the  text  by 
ample  citations  from  authorities,  usually  in  the  original,  since 
few  of  them  can  be  very  accessible  to  the  reader.  In  these  ex- 
tracts I  have  scrupulously  conformed  to  the  ancient  orthography, 
however  obsolete  and  even  barbarous,  rather  than  impair  in 
any  degree  the  integrity  of  the  original  document. 

Although  the  subject  of  the  work  is,  properly,  only  the  Con- 
quest of  ^lexico,  I  have  prepared  the  way  for  it  by  such  a  view 
of  the  Civilization  of  the  ancient  Mexicans,  as  might  acquaint  the 
reader  with  the  character  of  this  extraordinary  race,  and  enable 
him  to  understand  the  ditTficulties  which  the  S]3aniards  had  to 
encounter  in  their  subjugation.  This  introductory  part  of  the 
work,  with  the  essay  in  the  Appendix  which  properly  belongs  to 
tlie  Introduction,  although  both  together  making  only  half  a  vol- 
ume, hi'^  cost  me  as  much  labor,  and  nearly  as  much  time,  as  the 
remainder  of  the  history.  If  I  shall  have  siicceeded  in  giving  the 
reader  a  just  idea  of  the  true  nature  and  extent  of  the  civilization 
to  wliich  the  Mexicans  had  attained,  it  will  not  be  labor  lost. 

The  story  of  the  Conquest  terminates  with  the  fall  of  the 
capital.  Yet  I  have  preferred  to  continue  the  narrative  to  the 
death  of  Cortds,  relying  on  the  interest  which  the  development 
of  kis  cliarp.ctcr  in  his  military  career  may  have  excited  ir.  the 
reader.  \  am  not  insensible  to  the  hazard  I  incur  by  such  a 
cour-e.  The  niind,  previousi  occupied  with  one  great  idea, 
that  of  the  subversion  of  the  capital,  may  feel  the  prolongation 
of  the  story  beyond  that   point   superfluous,  if  not  tedious  ;    and 


^  PREFACE. 

may  find  it  difficult  after  the  excitement  caused  by  witness 
ing  a  great  national  catastrophe, to  take  an  interest  in  the  advent- 
ures of  a  private  individual.  Soli's  took  the  more  politic  course 
of  concluding  his  narrative  with  the  fall  of  Mexico,  and  thus 
leaves  his  readers  with  the  full  impression  of  that  memorable 
event,  undisturbed,  on  their  minds.  To  prolong  the  narrative  is 
to  expose  the  historian  to  the  error  so  much  censured  by  the 
French  critics  in  some  of  their  most  celebrated  dramas,  where 
the  author  by  a  premature  enouement  has  impaired  the  interest 
of  his  piece.  It  is  the  defect  that  necessarily  attaches,  though 
in  a  greater  degree,  to  the  history  of  Columbus,  in  which  petty 
adventures  among  a  group  of  islands  make  up  the  sequel  of  a 
life  that  opened  with  the  magnificent  discovery  of  a  World  ;  a 
defect,  in  short,  which  has  required  all  the  genius  of  Irving  and 
the  magical  charm  of  his  style  perfectly  to  overcome. 

Notwithstanding  these  objections,  I  have  been  induced  to 
continue  the  narrative,  partly  from  deference  to  the  opinion  of 
several  Spanish  scholars,  who  considered  that  the  biography  of 
Cortes  had  not  been  fully  exhibited,  and  partly  from  the  cir- 
cumstance of  my  having  such  a  body  of  original  materials  for 
this  biography  at  my  command.  And  I  cannot  regret  that  I 
have  adopted  this  course  ;  since,  whatever  lustre  the  Conquest 
may  reflect  on  Cortds  as  a  military  achievement,  it  gives  but  an 
imperfect  idea  of  his  enlightened  spirit,  and  of  his  comprehensive 
and  versatile  genius. 

To  the  eye  of  the  critic  there  may  seem  some  incongruity  in 
a  plan  which  combines  objects  so  dissimilar  as  those  embraced 
by  the  present  history  ;  where  the  Introduction,  occupied  with 
the  antiquities  and  origin  of  a  nation,  has  somewhat  the  char- 
acter of  a  philosophic  theme,  while  the  conclusion  is  strictly 
biographical,  and  the  two  may  be  supposed  to  match  indifferently 
with  the  main  body,  or  historical  portion  of  the  work.  But  I 
may  hope  that  such  objections  will  be  found  to  have  less  weight 
in  practice  than  in  theory  ;  and,  if  properly  managed,  that  the 
general  views  of  the  Introduction  will  prepare  the  reader  for  the 
particulars  of  the  Conquest,  and  that  the  great  public  events 
narrated  in  this  will,  without  violence,  open  the  way  to  the  re- 
maining personal  history  of  the  hero  who  is  the  soul  of  it.  What- 
ever incongruity  may  exist  in  other  respects,  I  may  hope  that 
the  unity  of  interest,  the  only  unity  held  of  much  importance 
by  modern  critics,  will  be  found  still  to  be  preserved. 

The  distance  of  the  present  age  from  the  period  of  the  nar- 
rative might  be  presumed  to  secure  the  historian  from  undue 
prejudice  or  partiality.  Yet  to  American  and  English  readers, 
ucknowledging  so  different  a  moral   standard  from   that  of  the 


PREFACE.  J 

sixteenth  centur;.  i  may  possibly  be  thought  too  indulgent  to 
the  errors  of  tht  conquerors  ;  while  to  a  Spaniard,  accustomed 
to  the  undiluted  panegyric  of  Solfs,  I  may  be  deemed  to  have 
dealt  too  hardly  with  them.  To  such  I  can  only  say,  that,  while, 
on  the  one  hand.  I  have  not  hesitated  to  expose  in  their  strong- 
est colors  the  excesses  of  the  Conquerors  ;  on  the  other,  I  have 
given  them  the  benefit  of  such  mitigating  reflections  as  might 
be  suggested  by  the  circumstances  and  the  period  in  which  they 
lived.  I  have  endeavored  not  only  to  present  a  picture  true  in 
itself,  but  to  place  it  in  its  proper  light,  and  to  put  the  spectator 
in  a  proper  point  of  view  for  seeing  it  to  the  best  advantage.  1 
have  endeavored,  at  the  expense  of  some  repetition,  to  surround 
him  with  the  spirit  of  the  times,  and,  in  a  word,  to  make  him,  if 
I  may  so  express  myself,  a  contemporaiy  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
Whether,  and  how  far,  I  have  succeeded  in  this,  he  must  deter- 
mine. 

For  one  thing,  before  I  conclude,  I  may  reasonably  ask  the 
reader's  indulgence.  Owing  to  the  state  of  my  eyes,  I  have 
been  obliged  to  use  a  writing-case  made  for  the  blind,  which 
does  not  permit  the  writer  to  see  his  own  manuscript.  Nor 
have  I  ever  corrected,  or  even  read,  my  own  original  draft.  As 
the  chirography,  under  these  disadvantages,  has  been  too  often 
careless  and  obscure,  occasional  errors,  even  with  the  utmost 
care  of  my  secretary,  must  have  necessarily  occurred  in  the 
transcription,  somewhat  increased  by  the  barbarous  phraseology 
imported  from  my  Mexican  authorities.  I  cannot  expect  that 
these  errors  have  always  been  detected  even  by  the  vigilant 
eye  of  the  perspicacious  critic  to  whom  the  proof-sheets  have 
been  subjected. 

In  the  Preface  to  the  "  History  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella," 
I  lamented,  that,  while  occupied  with  that  subject,  two  of  its 
most  attractive  parts  had  engaged  the  attention  of  the  most 
popular  of  American  authors,  \\'ashington  Irving.  By  a  singular 
chance,  something  like  the  reverse  of  this  has  taken  place  in  the 
composition  of  the  present  history,  and  I  have  found  myself 
unconsciously  taking  up  ground  which  he  was  preparing  to  occupy. 
It  was  not  till  I  had  become  master  of  my  rich  collection  of 
materials,  that  I  was  acquainted  with  this  circumstance  ;  and, 
had  he  persevered  in  his  design,  I  should  unhesitatingly  have 
abandoned  my  own,  if  not  from  courtesv,  at  least  from  policy; 
for,  though  armrd  with  the  weapons  of  Achilles,  this  could  give 
me  no  hope  of  success  in  a  competition  with  Achilles  himself. 
But  no  sooner  v.as  that  distinguished  writer  informed  of  the 
preparations  I  had  made,  than,  with  the  gentlemanly  spirit  which 
will  surprise  no  one  who  has  the  pleasure  of  his  acquaintance^ 


g  r RE  FACE. 

he  instantly  announced  to  me  his  intention  of  leaving  the  subject 
open  to  me.  While  I  do  but  justice  to  Mr.  Irving  by  this  state- 
ment, I  feel  the  prejudice  it  does  to  myself  in  the  unavailing  regret 
I  am  exciting  in  the  bosom  of  the  reader. 

I  must  not  conclude  this  Preface,  too  long  protracted  as  it  is 
already,  without  a  word  of  acknowledgment  to  my  friend  George 
Ticknor,  Esq., — the  friend  of  many  years, — for  his  patient  re- 
vision of  my  manuscript ;  a  labor  of  love,  the  worth  of  which 
those  only  can  estimate,  who  are  acquainted  with  his  extraor- 
dinary erudition  and  his  nice  critical  taste.  If  I  have  reserved 
his  name  for  the  last  in  the  list  of  those  to  whose  good  offices  I 
am  indebted,  it  is  most  assuredly  not  because  I  value  his  ser- 
vices least. 

WILLIAM  H.  PRESCOTTo 

Boston,  October  i,  1843. 


CONTENTS. 
VOLUME   FIRST. 

BOOK    I. 

INTRODUCTION'. VIEW    OF    THh    AZTEC    CIVILIZAnOTT 

CHAPIER  I. 

^AGB, 

Amcibnt  Mexico.  — Climate  an'd  Products. — Primitive  R.\ce,';. — Aztec  E.mpirk.  29 

Extent  ci  the  Aztec  Territor>' 2^; 

The  Hot   Rt;.iion 3.3 

Volcanic  .Scenery 32 

Cordillera  of  the  Andes 32 

Table-land  in  the  Days  of  the  Aztecs 3  i 

Valley  of  Mexico 3 j 

The  Toitecs ;» 

Their  mysterious  Disappearance 35 

Races   from  the  North-svest 3^ 

Their  Hostilities 36 

Eoundation  of   Mexico 37 

Domestic   Feuds 37 

League  of  the  kindred  Tribes 3< 

Rapid  Rise   of  Mexico 3^ 

Prosperity  cif  the    Empire 4.J 

Criticism  on  Veytia's  History 40 

CHAPTER  II. 

Succession  to    the  Crown. — Aztec    Nobility. — Judicial   System. — Laws  and 

Rkvbnubs. — Military  Institutions ..  4J 

Election  of  the  Sovereign , 42 

His  Coronation 43 

Altec  Nobles 43 

Their  barbaric  Pomp 43 

Tenure  of  their  Estates ,  44 

Legislative  Power 4 ; 

Judicial  System 4^ 

Independent  Judges 4'; 

Their  .Mode  of  Procedure 47 

Showy  Tribuiial 4.S 

Hiero;^lyph;cai  Paintings , 4q 

Marriage  R  !•  s 4^ 

Slavery  in  Mexico 5,1 

Royal  Revenues :;  i 

Burdensome  I  mpoits j 3 

Publir  Couriers jj 


12  CONTENTS, 

FAMU 

Military  Enthusiasm 54 

Azcec  Ambassadors J4 

Orders  of  Kniglithood i;j 

(jorgeous  Armor t - 

National  Standards 56 

Military  Code 56 

H')spitals  for  the  Wounded 57 

Iniluence  of  Conquest  on  a  Nation 58 

Criticism  on  Torquemada's  History 59 

Abbd  Clavigero 59 

CHAPTER  III. 

Mexican  Mythology. — The   Sacerdotal  Order. — The  Temples. — Hum.^n  Sac- 
rifices   61 

Systems  of  Mytholo-^y 6i 

Mythology  of  the  Aztecs 62 

Ideas  of  a  God 6a 

Sanguinary  War-god 6j 

God  of  the  Air 64 

Mystic  Legends   64 

Iji vision  of  Time 65 

Future  State 65 

Funeral  Ceremonies 66 

Baptismal  Rites 67 

Monastic  Orders 68 

Fasts  and  Flagellation 69 

Aztec  Confessional 69 

Kducation  of  the  Youth. 70 

Revenue  of  the  Priests 71 

M  exican  Temples 71 

K.^iigious  Festivals 72 

H  uman  Sacrifices 73 

The  Captive's  Doom 73 

Ceremonies  of  Sacrifice ,  74 

Torturing  of  the  Victim 74 

Sacrifice  of  Infants , 75 

Cannibal  Banquets 75 

Number  of  Victims 76 

Houses  of  Skulls 7^ 

Cannibaiism  of  the   .■\ztecs , 7Q 

Criticism  on  Sahagun's  History 80 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Mexican    Hieroglyphics.  —  M  anuscript.s.  —  Arith.mbtic.  —  Chronology.  — As- 

TRO.N'OM  Y 8> 

Dawning  cf  Science 83 

Picture-wrjtiiig , 84 

Aztec  Hierof^lyp'hics 85 

Manuscripts  of  the  Mexicans 85 

Emblematic  .Symbols ....  86 

Piionetic  Si^rns 86 

Materials  of  the  Aztec  Manuscripts 89 

F.irm  of  their  Volumes 89 

D.;struction  of  most  of  them 89 

Remain in;j  Manuscripts 90 

Difficulty  nf  'Icciphering  them 9» 

Minstrelsy  of  the  Aztecs 94 

Theatrical  Flntcrtainments , ....  94 

System  nf  Notation 94 

Their  Chronology , 95 

The  Aztec  Era 97 

Caiciidar  of  tlie  Priests 99 

Science  of  Astrology.      . tn 


aONTBNTS. 


'3 


rxcB. 

Astrology  of  the  Aztecs .  loi 

Their  Astronomy .••••■. 'o| 

Wonderful  Attainments  in  this  Science 104 

Remarkable  Festival 104 

Carnival  of  the  Aztecs 106 

Lord  Kingsborough's  Work 106 

Criticism  on  Gama ^ 106 

CHAPTER    V. 

AlTBC   AGRICULTURB. — MECHANICAL   ArTS. — MERCHANTS. — DOMESTIC     MaNNBRS.^  IO4 

Mechanical  Genius io<j 

Agriculture i  lo 

Mexican  Husbandrj' no 

Vegetable  Products 1 1 1 

Mineral  I'reasures 113 

Skill  of  the  Aztec  Jewellers 114 

Sculpture 115 

Huge  Calendar-stone 116 

Aztec  Dyes 116 

Beautiful  Feather-work, 117 

Fairs  of  Mexico 118 

National  Currency 118 

Trades ii3 

Aztec  Merchants 119 

*        Militant  Traders .  1  ig 

Domestic  Lite 120 

Kindness  to  Children 121 

Polygamy 121 

Conditii':i  of  the  Sex 122 

Social  Khtjrtainments 122 

Use  of  Tobacco 122 

Cu.mary  Art 123 

Agreeable  Drinks 124 

Dancing; 124 

Intoxiciiii  n 125 

Criticibni  on  boturini's  Work 126 

CHAPTER  VI 

rElCfCANs,— T.HEiR  Golden  .Agh.  —  .Accomplished  Pri>«:e?;. — Dkclixe  of  their 

Monarchy 118 

The  Aco'huans  or  Tezcucans 128 

Prince  Nezahualcoyotl 128 

His  Persecutic.il 129 

His  Hair-breadlii  Escapes ijo 

His  wandering  Life 130 

Fidelity  of  Ins  Subjects 131 

Triumplis  over  his  Enemies 131 

Remarkable  League 132 

1  reneral   Amnesty 132 

The  Tezcucan  Code 131 

Departments  of  '  invernment 133 

Council  of  Music UJ 

Its  Ce:.  =  '. rial    Office «34 

Literary  Taste I34 

Tezcucm  IJards "35 

Royal  Or!e ■S*' 

Resources  of  Nezahualcoyotl 137 

His  magnificent  Palace 137 

His  Gardens  and  Villas, ijS 

Address  of  the  Priest 14a 

His  Baths 141 

Luxurious  Resi'loiicc    141 

■tistin^  Kema.i.i    uf    it 14a 


24 


INDEX. 

MGB. 

Royal  Amours ...<  143 

Marriage  of  the  King 144 

Forest  Laws •  145 

Strolling  Adventures .....>. 145 

Munificence  of  the  Monarch 146 

His  Ileligion '. 146 

Temple  to  the  Utiknown  God ••  147 

Philosophic  Retirement 148 

His  plaintive  Verses 148 

Last  Hours  of  Nezahualcoyotl 149 

His  Character 151 

Succeeded  by  Nezahualpilli 151 

The  Lady  of  Tula JSa 

Executes  h.is   Son ]5> 

Effeminacy  of  the  King 153 

His  consequent  Misfortunes 153 

Death  of  Nezahualpilli 15J 

Tezcucan  Civilization 154 

Criticism  on  ]xt!ilxoctutl't  Writings • 151 


BOOK    11. 

DISCOVERY  OF   MEXICO. 
CHAPTER  L 

5?AII4    UNDER    ChARLBS  V.— PROGRESS    OF    DISCOVER V.— COLONIAL     PoLICV.— COK- 

QUEST  OP  Cuba. — Exi'editions  to  Yucatan 15^ 

Condition  of  Spain , 159 

Increase  of  Empire 151) 

Cardinal  Ximenes 160 

Arrival  of  Charles  the  Fifth 160 

Swarm  of  Flemings 160 

Opposition  of  the  Cortes 161 

Colonial  Administration , , , 161 

Spirit  of  Chivalry 162 

Progress  (if  Di^ci'very , 162 

Advancemeii;  of  Colonization 163 

System  of  Rcpartiniunios 163 

Colonial  Policy V \ 

Discovery  of  Cuba 164 

Its  Conquest  by  Velasquez 164 

Cordova's  Expedition  to  Yucatan 165 

His  Reception  bv  the  Natives 166 

Grijalva's  Ex;>ediiion , 167 

Civilization  in  Yucatan 167 

Traffic  with  tl:e  Indians.... 68 

His  Return  to  Cuba 168 

His  cool  Reception 168 

Ambitious  Schemes  of  the  Governor i6^ 

Preparations  for  an  Expedition 169 

CHAPTER  n. 

Hbrnan'do  CoRTr-.  -  I! ..  Kak.t  y  Ltt  f,.— Vt-tts  the  New  World.— His  Residbnck 

I.N  <.   Uli/..       DliKICI-i.TIKS  WITH  Vi;i,At(JUEZ. — AkMADA  INTRUSTED  TO    CoKTBS.  1  7<» 

Hernnndo  Cortes 170 

H  is  Education i  >« 

Choice  of  a   Profession , 171 


INDEX, 


>s 


rAoa 

Departure  for  Amenca.. 17a 

Arrival  at  Hispaniola • ...•• 17s 

His  Mode  of  Life 17] 

Enlists  under  Velasquez 173 

Habits  of  Gailaiitrv- 174 

Disaffected  tuwui  ds  Velasquez 174 

Cortes  in  Coiifinfment 175 

Flies  into  a  Sai,ctuary 17J 

A^ain  put  in   Irons   176 

His  perilous  Escape 176 

His  Marrir.ge 176 

Reconciled  \vith  the  Govemer 177 

Retires  to  Ir.s  Plantation , 177 

Armada  intrusted  to  Cortes 17S 

Preparations  for  the  Voyage 179 

Insiructions  to  Cortes i&j 

CHAPTER  III. 

jBALnusi.Y  OF  Velasquez. — Cortes    embarks. — Equipment  of  his  Fleet. — His 
Person    and    Character. —  Rendezvous   at    Havana. — Strength    of  km 

Ar.mament 18* 

Jealousy  of  Velasquez ,  18a 

Intrigues  against  Cortds i8a 

His  Clandestine  Embarkation 183 

Arrives  at  Macaca 183 

Accession  of  Volunteers 184 

Stores  and  Ammunition l8j 

Orders  from  Velasquez  to  arrest  Cortes 185 

He  raises  the  Standard  at  Havana 186 

Person  of  Cone ....   186 

His  Charact»!r..      187 

Strength  of  :he  Armament 188 

Stirring  Address  to  his  Troops 189 

Fleet  weiglis  Anclior 190 

Remarks  on  Esirelia's  Manuscript , 190 

CHAPTER  IV. 

/OVAGE  TO    CoZUMEI.. — Co.N'VKRSION    OF   THB  NaTIVHS. — JeRONIMO    DH    AgUILAR. — 

Army  akkt,  ks  at   Tabasco. —  Great  Battle   with   the    Indians. — Chris- 
tianity  l.NTKODUCED 19I 

Disastrous  Voyaue  to  Cozumel igi 

Huma:.e  Pfjiicy  of  Cortes 19I 

Cross  found  in  the  Island 19a 

Re  jjji.  us  Zeal  of  the  .Spaniards. , 193 

Attempts  at  Conversion , 193 

Overthrow  of  the  Idols 194 

Jeronimo  de  Aguilar ..  195 

His  .Adventures 195 

Empl<  yi:d  as  an  Jp.terpreter 196 

Fleet  arriv!     at  T.basco 197 

Hostile  Rccejjtion 197 

Fierce  Dei'iar.ce  (  f  the  Natives 198 

Df-spei  ate  Conflict 198 

Effect  of  the   Fire-arms ■•.  198 

Cortes  takes  Tabasco 199 

Ambush  i)f  the   Indians aoo 

The  Country  in   Arms 200 

Preparations  for  I'attle 201 

March  on  the  Enemy 201 

Joins  Battle  with  the  Indians 20a 

Doubtful  Strut'r'ic 203 

Terror  nf  tlie  W.ir-liorse S03 

Victory ':f -he  Spaniards E03 

Number  of  Slain ,  , ;a4 

Treaty  with  the  Xatives 204 

Cou version  of  the  Heatben , . , , zo| 


l5  INDEX. 

Catholic  Communion to% 

Spaniards  embark  for  Mex'co • , ao& 

CHAPTER    V. 

VOYAGK    ALONG     THB    COAST. — DONA  MaRINA. —  SPANIARDS     LAND  IN    MEXICO. — IN- 

TBRViRw  WITH  THB  Aztecs •    ■..  107 

Voyage  along  the  Coast 207 

Natives  come  on  Board to8 

Dona  Marina aoS 

Her  History 109 

Her  Beauty  and  Character 209 

First  Tidings  of  Montezuma 310 

Spaniards  land  in  Mexico 210 

First  Interview  with  the  Aztecs ....  211 

Their  magnificent  Presents 21J 

Cupidity  of  the  Spaniards 2  ij 

Cortez  displays  his  Cavalry aij 

Aztec  Paintings ^14 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Account  of  Montezuma.— State  of  his  Empire. — Strange  Prognostics. — Em- 
bassy AND  Presents. — Spanish  Encampment  215 

Montezuma  tlien  upon  the  Throne., S15 

Inaugural  Address 215 

The  Wars  of  Montezuma 2i5 

His  civil  Policy 216 

Oppression  of  his  Subjects 217 

Foes  of  his  Empire 2i3 

Superstition  of  Montezuma 21S 

Mysterious  Prophecy 2ig 

Portentous  Omens 219 

Dismay  of  the  Emperor 220 

Embassy  and  Presents  to  the  Spaniards ..  221 

Life  in  the  Spanish  Camp 222 

Rich  Presents  from  Montezuma 222 

Large  gold  Wheels • 223 

Message  from  Montezuma 224 

Eflects  of  the  Treasure  on  the  Spaniards 225 

Return  of  the  Aztec  Envoys 225 

Prohibition  of  Montezuma 226 

Preaching  of  Father  Olmedo 226 

Desertion  of  the  Natives 226 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Troubles    in  the  C.\mp.— Plan  of  a  Colonv.— Management  of    Cortez.— 
March  TO   Cempoalla.— Proceedings  with   the   Natives. — Foundation  or 

Very  Cruz. 228 

Discontent  of  the  Soldiery • '^' 

Envoys  from  the  Totonacs *^* 

Dissensions  in  the  Aztec  Empire ' *^9 

Proceedings  in  the  Camp **9 

Cortez  prepares  to  return  to  Cuba....    • *3o 

Army  remonstrate - 'J" 

Cortes  yields *3' 

Foundation  of  Villa  Rica *3' 

Resignation  and  Reappointment  of  Cortds '3^ 

Divisions  in  the  Camp *3* 

General  Reconciliation '33 

March  to  Cempoalla *34 

Picturesque  Scenery   '34 

Remains  of  Victims *35 

Terrestrial  Paradise '35 

Lore  of  Flowers  by  the  Natives '3^ 

Their  splendid  Edifices   • »37 

Hospitable  Entertainment  at  C«mpoaJJa • ••  'JT 


CONTENTS, 


17 


PAGE 

?ODference  with  the  Cadqne 133 

roposais  of  Alliance 238 

Advance  of  the  Spaniards , S39 

Arrival  of  Aztec  Nobles , 240 

Artful  Policy  of  C'ortez 241 

Allegiance  of  the  Natives 241 

City  of  Villa  Rica  built 142 

Iniatuatiou  ui  the  ludians 34a 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Ikother  Aztec  Embassy.— Destruction  of  tub  Idols. — Despatches  Sent  to 

Spain. — Conspikacv  in  the  Ca.mp.—  The  Fleet  sunk 244 

Embassy  from  Moutirzuma - 244 

Its  Results 24s 

Severe  Disciphne  in  the  .•\rniy 245 

Gratitude  of  the  Cenipoallau  L'ac.que = 246 

Attemrit  at  Conversion 246 

SeriS.Tti  .n  anmi;^  the  Natives 247 

The  idols  burned 247 

Consecration  of  the  Sanctuary 248 

News  from  Cuba 248 

Presents  for  Clu'.rles  the  I'llih 249 

First  Letter  of  Cortez 250 

Despatch.. s  to  Spain 251 

Ai-'ents  for  the  Mission 2S2 

D'-i -arture  of  the  Sliip 2^5 

It  torches  at  Cuba 25: 

Race  of  Velasquez 253 

Ship  arrives  in  SiJjin 25; 

Conspiracy  in  the  Camp 254 

Destruction  of  tlie  Fleet 255 

Oration  of  Cortes 256 

Enthusiasm  of  the  Army ...  256 

Notice  of  has  Ca^as 258 

His  Life  and  Character 259 

Criticism  on  his  Works • <  36s 


BOOK  III. 

MARCH   TO    MEXICO. 

CHAPTER  I. 

y«ocBEr>rNGs  atCempoaila. — The  Spaniards  climb  the  Tablb-land. — Pktto- 

RESQUF.  Scenery.— 'I'ransactions  WITH  ihb  Natives. — Embassy  toTlascala.  a6$ 

Sfjuadron  off  the  Coast 26$ 

.Stnuagem  of  Cortei 266 

Arras.^'emei.t  at  Villa  Rica 266 

Sp  uiiards  be^in  their  March 267 

(.limb  the  (Jordilieras 268 

Wild  .Mountain  Scenery 2&9 

Immense  ilenps  of  Human  Skuiis 271 

Transactions  with  the  N,uive.s i7i 

Accounts  of  Mnnteznniii's  Power 171 

Moderation  of  lallier  O.inedo 173 

Indian  Uweliin(,-s 374 

Cort^  determines  his  Route JB74 


l8  CONTENTS. 

^     ,                   ^.           ,  PAGE 

Embassy  to  Tiascala 275 

Remarkable  Fortification. ..  , 276 

Arrival  in  Tiascala 27^ 

CHAPTER   II. 


HBPUBI.IC  OF    Tl.ASCALA. — ItS    INSTITUTIONS.— EaRLY    HiSTORr. — DiSCUSSTONS    IN 

THE  Senatri — Desperate   Battles 


279 

279 


The  Tlascalans 

Their  Migrations 279 

Their  Government 280 

Public  Games 28 , 

Order  of  Knighthood 281 

Internal  Resources 281 

Their  Civilization 282 

Struggles  with  the  Aztecs 28a 

Means  of  Defence 283 

Sufferings  of  the  Tlascalans 284 

Their  hardy  Cliaracter 284 

Debates  in  the  Senate 285 

Spaniards  advance 286 

Desperate  Onslaught 286 

Retreat  of  the  Indians 287 

Bivouac  of  the  Spaniards 287 

Tiie  Army  resumes  its  March 288 

Immense  Host  of  Barbarians 28q 

Bloody  Conliict  in  the  Pass 2S9 

Enemy  give  Ground 290 

Spaniards  clear  the  Pass 291 

Cessation  of  Hostilities 291 

Results  of  the  Conflict 292 

Troops  encamp  for  the  Night 292 

CHAPTER  III. 
Decisive    Victouy. — Indian    Council. — Night   Attack. — Nrgotiations  with 

THE  E.NK.MV.— TlASCALAN  HeRCI 29J 

Envoys  to  Tiascala 293 

Foraging  Party 294 

Bold  Defiance  by  the  Tlascalans 294 

Preparations  for  Battle 295 

Appearance  of  the  Tlascalans 295 

.■^howy  Costume  of  the  Warriors 296 

Their  Weapons 297 

Desperate  Engagement 298 

The  Combat  tliickens 299 

Divisions  among  tlie  Enemy 300 

Decisive  Victory 300 

Triumph  of  Science  over  Numbers 301 

Dread  of  the  Cavalry 301 

Indian  Council 302 

Night  Attack  302 

Spaniards  victorious 303 

Embassy  to  Tiascala J03 

Peace  with  the  Enemy 304 

Patriotic  Spirit  of  their  Chief 304 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Dmcontbnts  in  the  Army. — Tlascalan  Spies. — Peace  with  thk  Republic. — 

Embassy  from  Montezuma 306 

Spaniards  scour  the  Country 306 

Success  of  the  Foray , 3o6 

Discontents  in  the  Camp 3^7 

Representations  of  the  Malcontents • 3°7 

Reply  of  Cort^z 8<» 


CO.VT£X/S.  I- 

DifiBculties  of  tho  EnterpnSc , 305 

Mutilation  of  the  Spies 3,0 

Inrerview  with  the  Tlascalaii  Chief 311 

Peace  with  the  RepubUc 312 

Emhassv  from  Motuezuma 3,, 

Declines  to  receive  the  Spaniards 3,3 

They  advance  towards  the  City 3  ,^ 

CHAPTER  V. 

Spaniards  enter  Tlascala. — Description  of  the  Capital. — Attempted  Con- 
version —  Aztec  EiMBAssY.  —  Invited  to  Cholula 316 

Spaniards  enter  'I'lascala 316 

Rejoicings  on  their  Arrival , 317 

Description  of   I'iascala 317 

Its  Houses  and  Streets 318 

Its  Fairs  and  Police 318 

Divisions  of  tiie  City 318 

Wild  Scenery  round  Tlascala 3ig 

Character  of  the  Tlascaians 3iq 

Vigilance  of  Cortds 3ig 

Attempted  Conversion , 320 

Resistance  of  the  Natives 320 

Zeal  of  Cortes 3>  r 

Prudence  of  the  Friar 321 

Character  of  Oiraedo 321 

Mass  Celebrated  in  Tlascala 322 

The  Indian   Maidens 322 

Aztec  Embassy 323 

Power  of   Montezuma 323 

Embassy  from  Ixtlilxochitl 324 

Deputies  from  Cholula 3^14 

Invitation  to  Cholula ', 325 

Prepare  to  leave  Tlascala 325 

CHAPTER  VI. 

City  op  Choll'i.a. — Great  Temple. — March  to  Cholula. — Reception  of  the 

Spaniard^. — Conspiracy  Detected 326 

City  of  Cholula 326 

Its  History 326 

Religious  Traditions ....  327 

Its  ancient  Pyramid , 327 

Temple  of  Quetzalcoatl 328 

Holy  City..--          329 

Magiiificent  Scenery 329 

Spaniards  leave  Tlascala 330 

Indian  Volunteers 330 

Army  enters  Ch.o'.ula 33  t 

Pjrilliant  Reception 332 

En.oys  from  Montezuma 332 

Suspicions  of  Conspiracy 333 

fidelity  of  Marina 333 

Alarnung  Situation  of  Cortds 334 

Intriguej  v.itli  the   Priests 335 

Interview  with  the  Caciques 335 

Night-watch  of  the  Spaniards 3J& 

CHAPTER  VII. 

l%BRii)i,E    Massacre.— Tranquillity  Restored.— Reflections    OM    the  Ma> 

SAtKE.  —  FuRTHBk  pKOCI'.EDINGS. — ENVOYiiFROM  MoNTBZUMA JJ7 

Preparations  for  a  secrot  Assault JS7 

Natives  collect  in  the  Square J3T 


to  CONTENTS. 

Pagb 

The  Signal  given 338 

Terrible  Massacre 338 

Onset  of  the  TIascalans 339 

Defence  of  the  Pyramid 339 

Division  of  the  Spoil 340 

Restoration  of  Order 34a 

Reflections  on  the  Massacre 341 

Right  of  Conquest 341 

Missionary  Spirit 342 

Policy  of  Cortes 344 

His  perilous  Situation 344 

Cruelty  to  be  charged  on  him , 345 

Terror  of  "  the  White  Gods." 345 

Tlie  Cross  raised  in  Cholula 346 

Victims  liberated  from  the  Cages 346 

Christian  Temple  reared  on  the  Pyramid 346 

Embassy  from  Montezuma 347 

Departure  of  the  Cempoalians 348 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

March  resumed. — Ascent  of  the  Gre.\t  Volcano. — Valley  of  Mexico. — Im- 
pression ON  the  Sp.x.niards. — Conduct  OF  Montezuma. — They  descend  i.nto 

THE  Valley 349 

Spaniards  leave  Cholula 349 

Signs  of  Treachery 349 

The  Army  reaches  the   Mountains 350 

Wild  Traditions 350 

The  great  Volcano 351 

Spaniards  ascend  its  Sides 351 

Perils  of  the  Enterprise 352 

Subsequent  Ascent 353 

Descent  int-j  ihe  Crater 353 

The  TrooIj^  -iuSer  from  the  Tempest 354 

First  View  cf  the  Valley 354 

Its  Magnificence  and  I'eauty 355 

Impression  on  the  Spar.iards 355 

Disaffection  of  the  Natives  to  Montezuma 356 

Embassy  from  the  Emperor 356 

His  gloomy  Ajiprehensions 357 

Silence  of  the  Oracles 357 

Spaniards  advance 338 

Death  of  tlie  Sjiies 359 

Arrival  of  the  Tezcucau  Lord 359 

Floating  Gardens 360 

Crowds  assembled  on  the  Roads 361 

Army  reaches  Iztapalapan 361 

Its  celebrated  Gardens 362 

Striking  View  of  Mexico   363 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Invirons    of    Mexico.  —  Interview    with     Montezuma. — Entrance  into  the 

Capital. — Hospitable  Reception. — Visir  to  the  E.mperor 364 

Preparations  to  enter  the  Capital 364 

Army  enters  on  the  great  Causeway 364 

Beautiful  Environs • 365 

Brilliant  Procession  of  Chiefs 366 

Splendid  Retinue  of  Montezuma 366 

Dress  of  the  Emperor 367 

His  Person 367 

His  Reception  of  Cortds 368 

Spaniards  enter  the  capital 369 

Feelings  of  the  Aztecs   370 

Hospitable  Reception 370 

The  Spanish  Quarters 371 

Precaution  of  the  General  ];• 


CONTEIVTS. 


2t 


Pag« 

▼Isited  by  the  Emperor 371 

His  rich  Presents 373 

Superstitious  Terrors 373 

Royal  Palace • 374 

Description  of  its  Interior • 374 

Cortes  visits  Montezuma 375 

Attempts  to  convert  the  Monarch 375 

Entire  Failure 376 

His  religious  Views 376 

Montezuma's  Eloquence 377 

His  courteous  Bearing 378 

Reflections  of  Cortes   37S 

Notice  of  Herrera 379 

Criticism  on  his  History 379 

Life  of  Toribio. 381 

Peter  Martyr 383 

His  Works 384 


BOOK    IV, 
RESIDENCE    IX    MEXICO. 

CHAPTKR  I. 

TtzcrcAN'    I.AKB. — Description  01'    tub   C'.u'itai.. — Palaces    and  Mushlms. — 

Royal  Household. — Montezuma's  Way  of  Life.  , 3S7 

Lake  of  Tezcuco 3^7 

Its  Diminution 3S7 

Floating  Islands 3H8 

The  ancient  Dikes 3*:! 

Houses  <,f  ancient  Mexico jS.j 

Its  Streets , 3^0 

Its   Population 391 

Its  Aqueducts  and  Fountains 3qi 

The  imperial  Palace 31)3 

Adjoining  Edifices 394 

Magnificei/t  Aviary 394 

Extensive  Men.agei  ie 395 

Collection  nt   Dwarfs 395 

Beautiful  (  kirdens 396 

Royal  Hill  of  (  hapoltepec 396 

Wives  of  Montezuma 397 

His  Meals 398 

Luxu!  i'Airi  Dessert 399 

Custom  of  Smoking 399 

Ceremonies  at  Court ■  400 

EcoiKimy  of  the  Palace 401 

Oriental  ( 'ivi.ization 401 

Reserve  of  Montezimia 402 

Symptom.,  of  DecHne  of  Power .  402 

CHAPTER   11. 

Market  of  Mexico. — Cfrhat  Temple.  — Interior  Sanctuaries. — Spanish  Qi/ar- 

TBRS 40J 

Mexican  Ojstume   40J 

Great  Market  of  Mexico. 404 

Quarter  lA  the  Goldsmiths 405 

Booths  of  the  Armorers 405 

Prorisioiis  for  the  CaiJital 4'jr> 

ThrODgs  in  the  Market 407 


22  CONTENTS. 


Aztec  Money •••• 408 

The  Great  Temple 408 

Its  Structure « 409 

Din.er.sioiiS 41O 

Instruments  of  Worship 410 

Grand  View  from  the  Temple 41 

F brines  from  the  Idols 41 

Imprudencu  of  Cortes 41 

Interior  Sanctuaries 41 

Mound  of  Skulls. .   ■ 41 

Aztec  Seminaries 4i_ 

Imiiression  on  the  Spaniards 416 

Hidden  'J'reasures 416 

Mass  performed  in  Mexico 417 

CHAPTER  III. 

Anxiety  of  i  ortes. — Sbizl'rb  of  Montezuma. — His  Treatment  bv  the  Span- 
iards.— Execution  of  his  Officers. — Montezuma  i.\  Irons. — Reflections.  4tt 

Anxiety  of  Cctes ■ .  418 

Council  of  War 415 

Opinions  of  the  Officers 419 

Bold  Project  of  Cortes 419 

Plausible  Pretext 420 

Interview  with  Montezuma, 422 

Accusation  of  the  Emperor 422 

His  Seizure  by  the  Spaniards 423 

He  is  carried  to  their  Quarters 424 

Tumult  among  the  Aztecs 424 

Montezuma's  Treatment 425 

\'i;rilant  Patrol 425 

Trial  of  the  Aztec  Chiefs 426 

Montezuma  in  Irons 427 

Chiefs  burnt  at  the  Stake 427 

Emperor  allowed  to  return 428 

Declines  this  Permission 418 

Reflections  on  the-=e  Proceedings 428 

Views  of  the  Conquerors 439 

CHAPTER  IV. 

MoNTHzr:.i.\'';  Deportment.  — His  Life  in  the  Spanish  Quarters. — Meditated 

lNsui:aEC  iioN. — Lord  of  Tezcuco  seized. — Further  Measures  op  Cortks.  ..  431 

Troubles  at  Vera  Cruz 431 

Vessels  built  on  the  Lake 43  i 

Mor.tezuma's  Life  in  the  Spanish  Quarters 432 

His  Munificence 432 

Sfiisitive  tc  Insult 433 

E;nperor's  favorites 3*4 

SSpariiards  attempt  his  Conversion 434 

tiii-^antines  on  the  Lake 435 

The  Royal  Chase 435 

L<>: d  of  Tezcuco 436 

Meditated  Insurrection 436 

Policy  of  Cortes 437 

Tezcucan  Lord  in  Chains 438 

I'urther  .Measures  of  Cortes 439 

Surveys  the  Coast 4J9 

CHAPTER  V. 

.V!ontkzum,«.  swears  Allegiance  to  Spain.— Royal  Treasures.— Thkts   Dtvi- 

sn  ■.. — Chkistian  Worship  in  the  Teocalli. — Discontents  of  the  Aztecs...  44I 

M'  I  tczuma  ccr.\-ri  cs  h-s  Nobles 441 


CONTENTS.  25 

PAOB. 

Swears  Allegiance  to  Spain 442 

His  Distress 442 

Its  Effect  on  the  Spaniards 442 

Imperial  Treasures 443 

Splendid  Ornaments 443 

The  Royal  Fifth 444 

Amount  of  the  Treasure 445 

Division  of  Spoil . .  446 

Murmurs  of  the  Soldiery 446 

Cortes  calms  the  Storm 447 

Progress  in  Conversion 44S 

Cortes  demands  the  Teocalli 448 

Christian  Worship  in  the  Sanctuary 449 

National  Attachment  to  Religion 450 

Discontents  of  the  Aztecs 450 

Montezuma's  Warning 451 

Reply  of  Corti^s 452 

Insecurity  in  the  Castilian  Quarters 451 

CHAPTER  VI. 

K"*- TB  OF  Cortes'  Emissaries. — Proceedix(;s  in  thf.  C  astii.ian  Court. — Prbpara- 
TioNS   OF  Velasquez. — Narvakz   lands   in    Mexico. — Politic   Conduct   of 

Cortes.  —  He  leaves  the  Capit.al 454 

Cortes  f2niissaries  arrive  in  Spain. 454 

Their  Fate 454 

Proceedings  at  Court 455 

The  Bishop  of  Burgos 456 

Emperor  postpones  his  Decision 456 

Valasquez  meditates  Revence 457 

S-^nds  Narv'aez  against  Cortes   45; 

'i'lie  Audiei-.ce  interferes 45S 

Narvaez  sails  for  Me.xico 45,) 

Vaunts  of  Narvaez 460 

He  anchors  off  -San  Juan  de  Uiiia 460 

Sandoval  prepares  for  Defenci? 46 1 

His  Treatment  of  the  Invaders 461 

Cortes  hears  of  Narvaez 462 

He  bribes  his  Emissaries 463 

Sends  an  Envoy  to  his  Camp 463 

The  Friar's  Intrigues 464 

Embarrassment  of  Cortes 465 

He  Prepares  for  Departure 466 

H«  leaves  the  Capital.*.. .••••••• „  46? 


LIS 7^  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


MEXICO 

VOL.    I 

frontispiece — Fernando  Cortes 

Mexican    Peijns      ...... 

Capture  of  the  City  of  Mexico  by  Cortes 
The  Temple  of  the  Sun      .  .         .         , 


Conquest  of  Mexico. 


BOOK    L 

INTRODL  CriON. 
VIEW  OF  Tin:  AZ TKvJ  CIVILIZATION^. 

CHAi'TKR   1. 
An'Cie:-::'  Mlxtco.- — Climate  and  Pi^oducts. — PiiiMriivE  races, 

Of  all  that  extensive  empire  which  once  acknowledged  the 
authority  of  Spain  in  the  New  World,  no  portion,  for  interest 
and  importance,  can  be  compared  with  Mexico  ;  —  and  this 
equally,  whether  we  consider  the  variety  of  its  soil  and  climaie; 
the  inexhaustible  stores  of  its  mineral  wealth  ;  its  scenery,  grand 
and  picturesque  beyond  example  ;  the  character  of  its  ancient 
inhabitants,  not  only  far  surpassing  in  intelligence  that  of  the 
other  North  American  races,  but  reminding  us,  by  their  monu- 
ments, of  the  primitive  civilization  of  Egypt  and  Hindostan  ;  or 
lastly,  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  its  Conquest,  adventurous 
and  romantic  as  any  legend  aevised  by  Norman  or  Italian  bard 
of  chivalry.  It  is  the  purpose  of  the  present  narrative  to  exhibit 
the  history  of  this  Conquest,  and  that  of  the  remarkable  man  by 
whom  it  was  achieved. 

But,  in  order  that  the  reader  may  have  a  better  understanding 
of  the  subject,  it  will  be  well,  before  entering  on  it,  to  take  a 
general  survey  of  the  political  and  social  institutions  of  the  races 
who  occupied  the  land  at  the  time  of  its  discovery. 

The  country  of  the  ancient  Mexicans,  or  Aztecs  as  they  were 
called,  formed  but  a  very  small  part  of  the  extensive  territories 
Mexico  2  Voi,  1 


30 


AZTEC  CIVILTZATTON. 


comprehended  in  the  modern  republic  of  Mexico.*  Its  bound- 
aries cannot  je  deiined  with  certainty.  They  were  much  enlarged 
in  the  latter  days  of  the  empire,  when  they  may  be  considered 
as  reaching  from  about  the  eighteenth  degree  north,  to  the 
twenty-first,  on  the  Atlantic  ;  and  from  the  fourteenth  to  the  nine- 
teenth, including  a  very  narrow  strip,  on  the  Pacific.'^  In  its 
greatest  breadth,  it  could  not  exceed  five  degrees  and  a  half, 
dwindling,  as  it  approached  its  south-eastern  limits,  to  less  than 
two.  It  covered,  probably,  less  than  sixteen  thousand  square 
leagues.^  Yet  such  is  the  remarkable  formation  of  this  country, 
that,  though  not  more  than  twice  as  large  as  New  England,  it 
presented  every  variety  of  climate,  and  was  capable  of  yield- 
ing nearly  every  fruit,  found  between  the  equator  and  the  Arctic 
circle. 

All  along  the  Atlantic,  the  country  is  bordered  by  a  broad 
track,  called  the  tierra  caliente.  or  hot  region,  which  has  the  usual 

J  Extensive  indeed,  if  we  may  trust  Archbishop  Lorer.zana,  who  t^lls  us, 
"  It  is  doubtful  if  the  country  of  New  Spain  does  not  border  on  Tartary  and 
Greenland  ;  —  by  the  way  of  California,  on  the  former,  and  by  New  Mexico, 
on  the  latter  '"  !     Historia  de  Nueva  Espana,  (Mexico,  1770,)  p,  38,  nota. 

2  I  have  conformed  to  the  limits  fixed  by  Clavigero.  He  has  probably, 
examined  the  subject  with  more  thoroughness  and  fidelity  than  ro.ost  of  his 
countrymen,  who  differ  from  him,  and  who  assign  a  more  liberal  extent  to 
the  monarchy.  (See  his  Storia  Antica  del  Messico,  (Cesena,  1780.)  dissert. 
7.)  The  Abbe',  however,  has  not  informed  his  readers  on  what  frail  founda- 
tions his  conclusions  rest.  The  extent  of  the  Aztec  empire  is  to  be  gathered 
from  the  writings  of  historians  since  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards,  and  from 
the  picture-rolls  of  tribute  paid  by  the  conquered  cities  ;  boih  sources  ex- 
tremely vague  and  defective.  See  the  MSS.  of  the  Mendoza  collection,  in 
Lord  Kingsborough's  magnificent  publication  (Antiquities  of  Mexico,  com- 
prising Facsimiles  of  Ancient  Paintings  and  Hieroglyphics,  together  with  the 
Monuments  of  New  Spain.  London,  1830).  The  difficulty  of  the  inquiry  is 
much  increased  by  the  fact  of  the  conquests  having  been  made,  as  will  be 
seen  hereafter,  by  the  united  arms  of  three  powers,  so  that  it  is  not  always 
easy  to  tell  to  which  party  they  eventually  belonged.  The  affair  is  involved 
in  so  much  uncertainty,  that  Clavigero,  notwithstanding  the  positive  asser- 
tions in  his  text,  has  not  ventured,  in  his  map,  to  define  the  precise  limits  of 
the  empire,  either  towards  the  north,  where  it  mingles  with  the  Tezcucan 
empire,  or  towards  the  south,  where,  indeed,  he  has  fallen  into  the  egregious 
blunder  of  asserting,  that,  while  the  Mexican  territory  reached  to  the  four- 
teenth degree,  it  did  not  include  any  portion  of  Guatemala.  (See  torn.  L  p. 
29,  and  tom.  IV.  dissert.  7.)  The  Tezcucan  chronicler,  Ixtliixochitl,  puts  in 
a  sturdy  claim  for  the  paramount  empire  of  his  own  nation.  Historia 
Chichcraeca,  M.S.,  cap.  39,  53,  et  alibi. 

'  Eighteen  to  twenty  thousand,  according  to  Humboldt,  who  considers  the 
Mexican  territory  to  have  been  the  same  with  that  occupied  by  the  modern 
intendancies  of  Mexico,  Puebla,  Vera  Cruz,  Oaxaca,  and  Valladolid.  (Essai 
Politique  sur  le  Royaume  de  Nouvelle  Espagne,  (Paris,  1825,)  tom.  I.  p. 
196.)  This  last,  however,  was  all,  or  nearly  all,  included  in  the  rival  king- 
dom of  Mechoacan,  as  he  himself  mote  correctly  states  in  another  part  of  his 
work.     Comp.  tom.  II.  p.  164* 


A\CIEXr  MEXICO. 


3* 


high    temperature   of  equinoctial   lands.      Parched    and    sandy 

plains  are  intermingled  with  others,  ol  exuberant  fertility,  almost 
impervious  from  thickets  of  aromatic  shrubs  and  wild  flowers,  in 
the  midst  of  which  tower  up  trees  of  that  magniticent  growth 
which  is  found  only  within  the  tropics.  In  this  wilderness  of 
sweeis  lurks  the  fatal  r.'ialaria,  engendered,  probably,  by  the  de- 
coinposinon  of  rank  vegetable  substances  in  a  hot  and  huir.id 
soil.  The  season  of  the  bilious  fever, — vbviito,  as  it  is  calleri, — 
which  scourges  these  coasts,  continues  from  the  spring  to  ihe 
autumnal  equinox,  when  it  is  checked  by  the  cold  winds  that 
descend  from  Hudson's  Bav.  These  winds  in  the  winter  season 
frequently  freshen  into  tempests,  and,  sweeping  down  the  At- 
laniic  coast,  and  the  winding  Gulf  of  INIexico,  burst  with  the 
fury  of  a  hurricane  on  its  unprotected  shores,  and  on  the  neigh- 
boring West  India  islands.  Such  are  the  mighty  spells  with 
which  Nature  has  surrounded  this  land  of  enchantment,  as  it  to 
guard  tiie  golden  treasures  locked  up  within  its  bosom.  The 
genius  and  enterprise  of  man  have  proved  more  potent  than  l.er 
spells. 

After  passing  some  twenty  leagues  across  this  burning  region, 
the  traveller  finds  himself  rising  into  a  purer  atmosphere.  His 
limbs  recover  their  elasticitv.  He  breathes  more  freely,  for  his 
senses  are  not  now  oppressetl  by  the  '^uitrv  heats  and  intoxicat- 
ing perfumes  of  the  vahev.  The  aspect  of  nature,  too,  has 
changed,  and  his  eye  no  longer  revels  among  the  gav  variety  of 
colors  with  which  the  landscape  was  painted  there.  The  vanilla, 
the  indigo,  and  the  flowering  cacao-groves  disappea'-  as  he  ad- 
vances. The  sugar-cane  and  the  gloss\-leaved  banana  still  ac- 
company him  ;  and,  when  he  has  ascended  about  four  thousand 
feet,  he  sees  in  the  unchanging  verdure,  and  the  rich  foliage  of 
the  liquid-amber  tree,  that  he  has  reached  the  height  where 
clouds  and  mists  settle,  in  their  passage  fiou'  the  Mexican  Gulf. 
Tiiis  is  the  region  of  perpetual  humidity  ;  but  he  welcomes  it 
with  pleasure,  as  announcing  his  escape  from  the  influence  of  the 
deadly  vbmito}  He  has  entered  the  tierra  tirinplada.  or  temperate 
region,  whose  character  resembles  that  of  the  temperate  zone  of 
the  globe.     The  features  of  the  scenerv  become  grand,  and  even 

*  The  traveller,  who  enters  the  country  ;uross  tlie  drcaiv  sand-hills  of  Vera 
Cruz,  will  hardly  recognize  the  truth  of  the  above  description.  He  niust 
look  for  it  in  oilier  jjarts  of  the  tierra  caliei  ie.  Of  recent  tourists,  no  one  has 
given  a  m<jre  g'jrgcous  picture  ol  tiie  impressions  made  on  l;is  senses  by 
these  sunny  regions  than  Latrobe,  who  came  on  shore  at  Tampico;  (Rambler 
in  Mexico,  (New  York,  183G.)  chap.  1  ;)  a  traveller,  it  may  be  added,  whose 
descriptions  of  man  and  nature,  in  our  own  country,  when-  we  can  judge,  are 
distinguished  by  a  sobrietv  and  fairness  that  entitle  him  to  confidence  in  his 
delineation  of  otlier  countries. 


32 


AZTEC  CIVILIZATION. 


terrible.  Hi'"  jad  sweeps  along  ihe  base  of  mighty  mountains, 
once  gleamii^t;  with  volcanic  fires,  and  still  resplendent  in  their 
mantles  of  snow,  which  serve  as  beacons  to  the  mariner,  for 
many  a  league  at  sea.  All  around  he  beholds  traces  of  their 
ancient  combustion,  as  his  road  passes  along  vast  tracts  of  lava, 
bristling  in  the  innumerable  fantastic  forms  into  which  the  fiery 
torrent  has  been  thrown  by  the  obstacles  in  its  career.  Per- 
haps, at  the  same  moment,  as  he  casts  his  eye  down  some  steep 
slope,  or  almost  unfathomable  ravine,  on  the  margin  of  the  road, 
he  sees  their  depths  glowing  with  the  rich  blooms  and  enamelled 
vegetation  of  the  tropics.  Such  are  the  singular  contrasts  pre- 
sented, at  the  same  time,  to  the  senses,  in  this  picturesque 
region  ! 

Still  pressing  upwards,  the  traveller  mounts  into  other  climates, 
favorable  to  other  kinds  of  cultivation.  The  yellow  maize,  or 
Indian  corn,  as  we  usually  call  it,  has  continued  to  follow  him 
up  from  the  lowest  level  ;  but  he  now  first  sees  fields  of  wheat, 
and  the  other  European  grains  brought  into  the  country  by  the 
Conquerors.  Mingled  with  them,  he  views  the  plantations  of 
the  aloe  or  maguey  {agave  Afnerkand),  applied  to  such  various 
and  important  uses  by  tlie  Aztecs.  The  oaks  now  acquire  a 
sturdier  growth,  and  the  dark  forests  of  pine  announce  that  he 
has  entered  the  tierra  fria.,  or  cold  region, — the  third  and  last  of 
the  great  natural  terraces  into  which  the  countrv  is  divided. 
When  he  has  climbed  to  the  height  of  between  seven  and  eight 
thousand  feet,  the  weary  traveller  sets  his  foot  on  the  summit  of 
the  Cordillera  of  the  Andes, — the  colossal  range,  that,  after 
traversing  South  America  and  the  Isthmus  of  Darien,  spreads 
out,  as  it  enters  Mexico,  into  that  vast  sheet  of  table-land,  which 
maintains  an  elevation  of  more  than  six  thousand  feet,  for  the 
distance  of  nearly  two  hundred  leagues,  until  it  gradually  declines 
in  the  higher  latitudes  of  the  north.° 

Across  the  mountain  rampart  a  chain  of  volcanic  hills 
stretches,  in  a  westerly  direction,  of  still  more  stupendous 
dimensions,  forming,  indeed,  some  of  the  highest  land  on  ihe 
globe.  Their  peaks,  entering  the  limits  of  perpetual  snow, 
dift'use  a  grateful  coolness  over  the  elevated  plateaus  below  ;  for 
these  last,  though  termed  'cold,' enjoy  a  climate,  the  mean  tem- 

ferature  of  which  is  not  lower  than  that  of  the  central  parts  of 
taly.®     The  air  is    exceedingly  dry  ;  the  soil,  though  naturally 

^  This  long  extent  of  country  varies  in  elevation  from  5570  to  8856  feet. — 
equal  to  tlie  height  of  the  passes  of  Mount  Cenis,  or  the  Great  St.  Bernard 
The  table-land  stretches  still  three  hundred  leagues  further,  before  it  declines 
to  a  level  of  2624  feet.     Humboldt,  Essai  Politique,  torn.  I.  pp.  157,  2^5. 

'  About    620  Fahrenheit,  or  17"    Reaumur.     (Humboldt,  Essai  Politique, 


PRIMITIVE  KACFS. 


Zl 


good,  is  rarely  clothed  with  the  luxuriant  vegetation  of  the  lower 

regions.  It  frequently,  indeed,  has  a  parched  and  barren  aspect, 
ov.ing  partly  to  the  greater  evaporation  which  takes  place  or, 
these  lofty  plains,  through  the  diminished  pressure  of  the  atmos- 
phere ;  and  partly,  no  doubt,  to  the  want  of  trees  to  shelter  the 
boil  from  the  fierce  influence  of  the  summer  sun.  In  the  time  of 
ihc  Aztecs,  tlic  tabic-Iand  was  thickly  covered  with  iarch,  oak, 
cypress,  and  other  forest  trees,  the  extraordinary  diniensions  of 
some  of  which,  remaining  to  the  present  da\',  sliow  that  the  curse 
of  barrenness  in  later  times  is  ch;ngeable  moie  on  man  than  on 
nature.  Indeed,  the  early  Spaniards  made  as  indiscriminate  war 
on  the  forest  as  did  our  Puritan  ancestors,  though  with  much 
less  reason.  After  o:ice  conquering  the  country,  they  had  no 
iurkir^.g  ambush  to  fear  from  the  submissive,  semicivilized  Indian, 
and  were  not,  like  our  forefathers,  obliged  to  keep  watch  and 
ward  for  a  century.  This  spoliation  of  the  ground,  however,  is 
said  to  ha\'e  been  pleasing  to  their  imaginations,  as  it  teminded 
them  of  the  plains  of  their  own  Castile. — the  table-land  of  Yx\- 
rope  ;'  where  the  nakedness  of  tlie  landscape  forms  the  burden 
of  every  traveller's  lament,  who  visits  that  country. 

Midway  across  the  continent,  somewhat  nearer  tlie  Pacific 
thnn  the  Atlantic  ocean,  at  an  elevation  of  nearlv  seven  thousand 
fi\e  hundred  feet,  is  the  celebrated  Valiey  of  Mexico.  It  is  of 
at!  oval  form,  about  sixt}-seven  leagues  in  circumference,  ^  and 
is  encompassed  by  a  towering  rampart  of  porphyritic  rock,  which 
nature  seems  to  have  provided,  though  ineft'eciually,  io  protect 
it  from  invasion. 

The  soil,  once  cariyjted  with  a  beautiful  verciiire,  and  thicidy 
sprinkled  with  stately  trees,  is  often  bare,  and,  in  many  places, 
v.-hite  Willi  the  incrustation  of  salts,  caused  by  the  draining  of 

torn.  I.  p  273.)  The  nicire  elevated  piatcaus  of  ihe  table-land,  a--  the  Valiey 
of  Toluca,  abuut  8500  feet  above  the  s^ea,  have  a  stern  climate,  in  which  the 
thermometer,  daring  a  great  part  of  the  day,  rarely  rises  beyond  45'-'  F.  Idem. 
(Inc.  cit.,)  and  Malte-Brun,  i  Universal  Geogra]"ihy,  Eng.  Tran.--.,  book  .^3,) 
who  is,  indeed,  in  this  part  of  his  work,  liut  an  echo  of  the  former  writer. 

'  The  elevation  of  the  Castiles,  according  to  the  authority  repeatedly  cited, 
is  about  350  toises  or  2100  feet  above  the  ocean.  ( I  luniboldt's  i  )i.--sertation, 
apud  Laborde,  Itineraire  Descriptif  de  rEs])agne.  (Paris,  1827,)  toni  I.  p.  5.) 
It  is  rare  to  find  plains  in  Europe  of  so  great  a  height. 

*  Archbishoj)  I.orenzana  estiniates  the  circuit  of  the  Valley  at  ninety 
leagues,  correcting  at  the  same  time  the  statement  of  Cortes,  which  puts  it  at 
seventy,  very  near  the  truth.  ;is  appears  from  the  result  of  M.  de  Ilum- 
bolf.'t's  measurement,  cited  in  the  text.  Its  length  is  about  eigh.teen  leagues, 
by  twelve  anri  a  half  in  breadah.  (Humboldt,  Essai  Politique,  torn.  II. 
p.  29. — Lorenzana,  His.  de  Nueva  Espana,  p.  loi.)  Humboldt's  map  of  the 
Valley  of  .Me.\ico  forms  the  tliiif!  in  his  "Atlas  Geographique  et  Physique," 
and,  like  all  the  others  in  the  collection,  will  be  found  of  inestimable  value  to 
the  traveller,  the  geologist,  and  the  historian. 


34 


AZTEC  CIVILIZATION. 


the  waters.  Five  lakes  are  spread  over  the  Valley,  occupying 
one  tenth  of  its  surface,*  On  the  opposite  borders  of  the  lar- 
gest of  these  basins,  much  shrunk  in  its  dimensions  ^''  since  the 
days  of  the  Aztecs,  stood  the  cities  of  Mexico  and  Tezcuco,  the 
capitals  of  the  two  most  potent  and  flourishing  states  of  Anahuac, 
whose  history,  with  that  of  the  mysterious  races  that  preceded 
them  in  the  country,  exhibits  some  of  the  nearest  approaches  to 
civilization  to  be  met  with  anciently  on  the  North  American 
continent. 

Of  these  races  the  most  conspicuous  were  the  Toltecs.  Ad- 
vancing from  a  northerly  direction,  but  from  what  region  is  un- 
certain, they  entered  the  territory  of  Anahuac,i^  probably  before 
the  close  of  the  seventh  century.  Of  course,  little  can  be 
gleaned,  with  certainty,  respecting  a  people,  whose  written 
records  have  perished,  and  who  are  known  to  us  only  through 
the  extraditionary  legends  of  the  nations  that  succeeded  them,^* 

8  Humboldt,  Essai  Politique,  torn.  II.  pp.  29  44-49 — Make  Brun,  book 
85.  This  latter  geograpb.er  assigns  only  6700  feet  for  the  level  of  the  Valley, 
contradicting  himself,  (comp.  book 83.)  or  rather.  Humboldt,  to  whose  pages 
he  helj^s  himself,  pUnis  maiiihus,  somewhat  too  liberally,  indeed,  for  the 
scanty  references  at  the  bottom  of  his  page. 

i'^  Torquemada  accounts,  in  ]:)art,  for  this  diminution,  by  supposing,  that 
as  God  permitted  the  waters,  which  once  covered  the  whole  earth,  to  subside, 
after  mankind  had  been  nearly  exterminatedfor  their  iniquities,  so  he  allowed 
the  waters  of  the  Mexican  lake  to  subside,  in  token  of  good-will  and  reconcilia- 
tion, after  the  idolatrous  races  of  the  land  had  been  destroyed  by  the  Spaniards! 
(Monarchia  Indiana,  (Madrid,  1723,)  torn.  I.  p.  309.)  Quite  as  probable,  ii 
not  as  orthodox  an  explanation,  may  be  foujid  in  the  active  evaporation  of  these 
upper  regions,  and  in  the  fact  of  an  immense  drain  having  been  constructed, 
during  the  lifetime  of  the  good  father,  to  reduce  the  waters  of  the  principal 
lake,  and  protect  the  capital  from  inundation, 

11  Anahuac,  according  to  Humboldt,  comprehended  only  the  country  be- 
tween the  1.1th  and  21st  degrees  of  N.  latitude.  (Essai  Politique,  torn.  I.  p. 
197.)  According  to  Clavigero,  it  included  nearly  all  since  known  as  New 
Spain.  (Stor.  del  Messico.  tom.  I.  p.  27.)  Vevtia  uses  it,  also,  as  synonymous 
with  New  Spain.  (Historia  Antigua  de  Mejico,  (Mejico,  1836.)  tom.  I.  cap. 
12.)  The  first  of  these  writers  probably  allows  too  little,  as  the  latter  do  too 
much,  for,  its  boundaries.  Ixtlilxochitl  says  it  extended  four  hundred  leagues 
south  of  the  Otomie  country.  (Hist.  Chichemeca,  MS.,  cap.  73.)  The  word 
Anahuac  signifies  iieaj-  fht  rvater.  Tt  was.  probably,  first  applied  to  the 
country  around  the  lakes  in  the  Mexican  Valley,  and  gradually  extended  to 
the  remoter  regions  occupied  by  the  Aztecs,  and  the  other  semicivilized  races. 
Or,  possibly,  the  name  may  have  been  intended,  as  Vevtia  suggests,  (Hist. 
Antig.,  lib.  i,  cap.  i,)  to  denote  the  land  between  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific. 

^■■2  Clavigero  talks  of  Boturini's  having  written  "  on  the  faith  of  the  Toltcc 
historians."  (Stor.  del  Messico,  tom.  I.  p.  12S.)  But  that  scholar  does  not 
pretend  to  have  ever  met  with  a  Toltec  manuscript,  himself,  an:'  -lad  heard  of 
only  one  in  the  possession  of  Ixtlilxochitl.  (See  his  Idea  Je  una  Kueva 
Historia  General  de  la  America  Septentrional,  (Madrid,  1746.)  p.  no.)  The 
latter  writer  tells  us,  that  his  account  of  the  Toltec  and  Chichemec  races  w« 


PRIMITIVE  RACES 


35 


By  the  general  agreement  of  these,  however,  the  Toltecs  were  well 
instructed  in  agriculture,  and  many  of  the  most  useful  mechanic 
arts;  were  nice  workers  of  metals;  inveeted  the  complex  ar- 
rangement of  time  adopted  by  the  Aztecs  ;  and,  in  short,  were 
the  true  fountains  of  the  civilization  which  distinguished  this 
part  of  the  continent  in  latter  times."  They  established  their 
capital  at  Tula,  north  of  the  Mexican  Valley,  and  the  remains  of 
extensive  buildings  were  to  be  discerned  there  at  the  time  of 
the  Conquest.-'*  The  noble  ruins  of  religious  and  other  edifices, 
still  to  be  seen  in  various  parts  of  New  Spain,  are  referred  to 
this  peojile,  whose  name,  Toltec^  has  passed  into  a  synonyme  for 
architect.'-''  Their  shadowy  history  reminds  us  of  those  primitive 
races,  who  preceded  the  ancient  Egyptians  in  the  march  of  civi- 
lization ;  fragments  of  whose  monuments,  as  they  are  seen  at 
this  day,  incorporated  with  the  buildings  of  the  Egyptians  them- 
selves, give  to  these  latter  the  appearance  of  almost  modern 
constructions.^® 

After  a  period  of  four  centuries,  the  Toltecs,  who  had  ex- 
tended their  sway  over  the  remotest  borders  of  Anahuac,^'  hav- 
ing been  greatly  reduced,  it  is  said,  by  famine,  pestilence,  and 
unsuccessful  wars,  disappeared  from  the  land  as  silently  and 
mysteriously  as  they  had  entered  it.  A  few  of  them  still  lin- 
gered behmd,  but  much  the  greater  number,  probal^ly,  spread 
over  the  region  of  Central  America  and  the  neighboring  isles  ; 
and  the  traveller  now  speculates  on  the  majestic  ruins  of  Mith"' 

and  Palenque,  as  possibly  the  work  of  this  extraordinary  peo- 
ple.^^ 

"derived  from  interpretation,"  (prolialily,  of  the  Tezcucan  paintings,)  '*  and 
from  the  traditions  of  old  men  "  ;  poor  authority  for  events  whicli  liad  passed, 
centuries  before.  Indeed,  he  acknowledges  that  their  narratives  were  so  full 
of  absurdity  and  falsehood,  that  he  was  obliged  to  rej»ct  nine-tenths  of  them. 
(See  his  Kelaciones,  MS.,  no.  5.)  The  cause  of  truth  would  not  have  suffered 
much,  prol)ably,  if  lie  had  rejected  nine-tenths  of  the  remainder. 

'•' Ixtlilxochiil,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  2. — Idem,  Relaciones,  MS.,  no.  2. — 
Sahagun,  I  listeria  General  de  las  Cosas  do  Nueva  Espafia,  (Mexico,  1829,) 
lib.  10,  cap.  J9. — Veytia,  Hist.  Antig,.  lib.  i,  cap.   27. 

^'  Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nueva  Espafia,  lib.   10.  cap.  29. 

"  Idem,  ubi  su])ra, — Torquemada,  Monarch.  Ind.  lib.  i,  cap.  14. 

1"  DescripticHi  de  TEgypte,  (Paris,  1809,)  Antiquites,  torn.  I.  rap.  r.  Veytia 
has  traced  the  migrations  of  the  Toltecs  with  sut'ticient  industry,  scarcely  re- 
warded by  the  necessarily  doubtful  credit  of  the  results.  Hist.  Antig.,  lib.  2, 
cap.  21-33. 

'xtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  73. 

Veytia,  Hist,  .'\ntig.,  lib.  r,  caji.  33. — Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS., 
cap.  3. — Idem,  Relaciones,  MS.,  no.  .^,  5. — Father  Torquemada — perhai>s 
miiinter])reting  the  Te/cucan  hieroglv|)hics — has  accounted  for  this  mysteri- 
ous disappearance  of  the  'Coltecs,  by  such  fee-faw-fum  stories  of  giants  and 
demons,  as  show  his  apj)ctite  for  the  marvollous  was  fully  equal  to  that  of 
any  ijf  liis  calling.      See  his  Monarch,  ind.,  lib.  i,  cap    14. 


2^  AZTEC  CIVILIZATION 

After  the  lapse  of  another  hundred  years,  a  numerous  and 

rude  tribe,  called  the  Chichemecs,  entered  the  deserted  country 
from  the  regions  of  the  far  Northwest.  They  were  speedily  fol- 
lowed by  other  races,  of  higher  civilization,  perhaps  of  the  same 
family  with  the  Toltecs,  whose  language  they  appear  to  have 
spoken.  The  most  noted  of  these  were  the  Aztecs  or  Mexi- 
cans, and  the  Acolhuans.  The  latter,  better  known  in  later 
times  by  the  name  of  Tezcucans,  from  their  capital,  Tezcuco,^  on 
the  eastern  border  of  the  Mexican  lake,  were  peculiarly  fitted, 
by  their  comparatively  mild  religion  and  manners,  for  receiving 
the  tincture  of  civilization  which  could  be  derived  from  the  few 
Toltecs  that  still  remained  in  the  country.  This,  in  their  turn, 
they  communicated  to  the  barbarous  Chichemecs,  a  large  por- 
tion of  whom  became  amalgamated  with  the  new  settlers  as  one 
nation.^ 

Availing  themselves  of  the  strength  derived,  not  only  from 
this  increase  of  numbers,  but  from  their  own  superior  refine- 
ment, the  Acolhuans  gradually  stretched  their  empire  over  the 
ruder  tribes  in  the  north  ;  while  their  capital  was  filled  with  a 
numerous  population,  busily  employed  in  many  of  the  more  use- 
ful and  even  elegant  arts  of  a  civilized  community.  In  this 
palmy  state,  they  were  suddenly  assaulted  by  a  warlike  neigh- 
bor, the  Tepanecs,  their  own  kindred,  and  inhabitants  of  the 
same  valley  as  them.selves.  Their  provinces  were  overrun,  their 
armies  beaten,  their  king  assassinated,  and  the  flourishing  city 
of  Tezcuco  became  the  prize  of  the  victor.  From  this  abject 
condition  the  uncommon  abilities  of  the  young  prince,  Neza- 
hualcoyotl,  the  rightful  heir  of  the  crown,  backed  by  the  efficient 
aid  of  his  Mexican  allies,  at  length,  redeemed  the  state,  and 
opened  to  it  a  new  career  of  prosperity,  even  more  brilliant  than 
the  former.'^ 

The  Mexicans,  with  whom  our  history  is  principally  con- 
cerned, came,  also,  as  we  have  seen,  from  the  remote  regions  of 
the  North, — the  populous  hive  of  nations  in  the  New  V/orld,  as 
it  has  been  in  the  Old.  They  arrived  on  the  borders  of  Ana- 
huac,  towards  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  some  time 
after  the  occupation  of  the  land  by  the  kindred  races.     For  a 

15*  Tezcuco  signifies  "  place  of  detention";  as  several  of  the  tribes  who 
iuccessively  occupied  Anahuac  were  said  to  have  halted  some  time  at  the 
spot.     Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist,  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  lo. 

2'  The  historian  speaks,  in  one  page,  of  the  Chichemecs*  burrowing  m 
caves,  or,  at  best,  in  cabins  of  straw  ; — and,  in  the  next,  *^''ks  gravely  of  their 
sehoras,  infantas,  and  caballeros  !  Ibid.,  cap.  9,  et  seq.— Veytia,  Hist.  Antig., 
lib.  2,  cap.  i-io. — Caniargo,  Historia  de  Tlascala,  MW, 

^  Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  9-20.— Veytia,  Hist.  Antig.,  lib.  8, 
cap.  29-54. 


PRIMITIVE  RACES.  37 

long  time  they  did  not  establish  themselves  in   any  permanent 

residence  ;  but  continued  shifting  their  quarters  to  different 
parts  of  the  Mexican  Valley,  enduring  all  the  casualties  and 
hardships  of  a  migratory  life.  On  one  occasion,  they  were  en- 
slaved by  a  more  powerful  tribe  ;  but  their  ferociiy  soon  made 
them  formidable  to  their  masters."-^  After  a  series  of  wander- 
ings and  adventures,  which  need  not  shrink  from  comparison 
with  the  most  extravagant  legends  of  the  heroic  ages  of  an- 
tiquity, they  at  length  halted  on  the  southwestern  borders  of  the 
principal  lake,  in  the  year  1325.  They  there  beheld,  perched 
on  the  stem  of  a  prickly  pear,  which  shot  out  from  the  crevice 
of  a  rock  that  was  washed  by  the  waves,  a  royal  eagle  of  extraor- 
dinary size  and  beauty,  with  a  serpent  in  his  talons,  and  his 
broad  wings  opened  to  the  rising  sun.  They  hailed  the  auspicious 
omen,  announced  by  the  oracle,  as  indicating  the  site  of  their 
future  city,  and  laid  its  foundations  by  sinking  piles  into  the 
shallows ;  for  the  low  marshes  were  half  buried  under  water. 
On  these  they  erected  their  light  fabrics  of  reeds  and  rushes; 
they  sought  a  precarious  subsistence  from  fishing,  and  from  the 
wild  fowl  which  frequented  the  waters,  as  well  as  from  the  culti- 
vation of  such  simple  vegetables  as  they  could  raise  on  their 
floating  gardens.  The  place  was  called  Tenochtitlan,  in  token 
of  its  miraculous  origin,  though  only  known  to  Europeans  by  its 
other  name  of  Mexico,  derived  from  their  war-god,  Mexitli.^* 
The  legend  of  its  foundation  is  still  further  commemorated  by 
the  device  of  the  eagle  and  the  cactus,  which  form  the  arms  of 
the  modern  Mexican  republic.  Such  were  the  humble  begin- 
nings of  the  Venice  of  the  Western  World.'^* 

^ These  were  the  Colhuans,  not  Acolhuans,  with  whom  Humbeldt,  and 
most  writers  since,  have  confounded  them.  See  his  Essai  Politique,  tom.  I, 
p.  4m;  II-  p.  37- 

*  Clavigero  gives  good  reasons  for  preferring  the  etymology  of  Mexic» 
above  noticed,  to  various  others.  (See  his  Stor.  del  Messico,  tom.  I.  p.  16& 
nota, )  The  name  Tenochtitlan  s\g\vS\t?,  iurtid  (Ti.  Q.7\.c\.Vi%)  on  a  stone.  Espli- 
cacion  de  la  Col.  de  Mendoza,  apud  Antiq.  of  Mexico,  vol.  IV. 

*  "  Datur  hccc  venia  antiquitati,  "  says  Livy,  "  ut,  misceiido  humana  div- 
inis,  primordia  urbium  augustiora  faciat."  Hist.  Vrxi. — See  for  the  above 
paragraph,  Col.  de  Mendoza,  plate  i,  apud  Antiq.  of  Mexico,  vol.  I., — Ix- 
tlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  10, — Toribio,  ITistoria  de  !os  Indios, 
MS.,  Parte  3,  cap.  8, — Veytia,  Hist.  Antig.,  lib.  2,  cap.  15. — Clavigero,  after 
a  laborious  examination,  assigns  the  following  dates  to  some  of  the  promi- 
nent events  noticed  in  the  text.  No  two  authorities  agree  on  them  ;  and  this 
is  not  strange  considering  that  Clavigero — the  most  inquisitive  of  all — doe* 
Bot  always  agree  with  himself.  (Compare  his  dates  for  the  coming  of  the 
Acolhuans;  tom.  I.  \).  147,  and  tom.  IV.  dissert.  2.)  — 

A.  D. 
The  ToIt>ecs  arrived  in  Anahuac  .....  648 

They  abandoned  the  country       .         .         .  .         ,         1051 


gy  AZTEC  CIVILIZATION. 

The   forlorn   condition  of    the  new  settlers   was   made   still 

worse  by  cl'<inestic  feuds.  A  part  of  the  citizens  seceded  from 
the  rnaiu  body,  and  formed  a  separate  community  on  the  neigh- 
boring marshes.  Thus  divided,  it  was  long  before  they  could 
aspire  to  the  acquisition  of  territory  on  the  main  land.  They 
gradually  increased,  however,  in  numbers,  and  strengthened 
themselves  yet  more  by  various  improvements  in  their  polity  and 
military  discipline,  while  they  established  a  reputation  for  courage 
as  well  as  cruelty  in  war,  which  made  their  name  terrible 
thrcughou;  the  Valley.  In  the  early  part  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  nearly  a  hundred  years  from  the  foundation  of  the  city, 
an  event  took  place  which  created  an  entire  revolution  in  the 
circumstances,  and,  to  some  extent,  in  the  character  o£  the 
Aztecs.  This  was  the  subversion  of  the  Tezcucan  monarchy 
by  the  Tepanecs,  already  noticed.  When  chc  oppressive  con- 
duct of  the  victors  had  at  length  aroused  a  spirit  of  resistance, 
its  prince,  Nezahualcoyotl,  succeeded,  after  incredible  perils 
and  escapes,  in  miustering  such  a  force,  as,  with  the  aid  of  the 
Mexicans,  placed  him  on  a  level  with  his  enemies.  In  two 
successive  battles,  these  were  defeated  with  great  slaughter, 
their  chief  slain,  and  their  territory,  by  one  of  those  sudden 
reverses  which  characterize  the  wars  of  petty  states,  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  conquerors.  It  was  awarded  to  Mexico,  in  re- 
turn for  its  important  services. 

Then  was  formed  that  remarkable  league,  which,  indeed,  has 
no  parallel  in  history.  It  was  agreed  between  the  states  of 
Mexico,  Tezcuco,  and  the  neighboring  little  kingdom  of  Tlaco- 
pan,  that  they  should  mutually  support  each  other  in  their  wars, 
offensive  and  defensive,  and  that,  in  the  distribution  of  the 
spoil,  one  fifth  should  be  assigned  to  Tlacopan,  and  the  remain- 
der be  divided,  in  v.hat  proportions  is  uncertain,  between  the 
other  powers.  The  Tezcucan  writers  claim  an  equal  share  for 
their  nation  with  the  Aztecs.  But  this  does  not  seem  to  be 
warranted  by  the  immense  increase  of  territory  subsequently 
appropriated  by  the  latter.  And  we  may  account  for  any  ad- 
vantage conceded  to  them  by  the  treaty,  on  the  supposition, 
that,  however  inferior  they  may  have  been  originally,  they  were 

The  Chichemecs  arrived     .......  I170 

The  Acolhuans  arrived  about       ......  1200 

The  Mexicans  reached  Tula  .....  1 196 

They  founded  Mexico 1325 

See  his  dissert.  2,  sec.  12.  In  the  last  date,  the  one  of  most  importance,  h« 
is  confirmed  by  the  learned  Veytia,  who  differs  from  him  in  all  the  other* 
Hist.  Antig.,  lib.  2,  cap.  15. 


PRIMITIVE  RACES. 


39 


•t  th«  time  of  making  it,  in  a  more  prosperous  condition  than 
their  allies,  broken  and  dispirited  by  long  oppression.  What  is 
more  extraordinary  than  the  treaty  itself,  however,  is  the  fidel- 
ity with  which  it  was  maintained.  During  a  century  of  uninter- 
rupted warfare  that  ensued,  no  instance  occurred  where  the 
parties  quarrelled  over  the  division  of  the  spoil,  which  so  often 
makes  siiipwreck  of  similar  confederaces  among  civilized 
states.*^ 

The  allies  for  some  time  found  sufficient  occupation  for 
their  arms  in  their  own  valley  ;  but  they  soon  overleaped  its 
rocky  ramparts,  and  by  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
under  the  first  Montezuma,  had  spread  down  the  sides  of  the 
table-land  to  the  borders  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Tenochtitlan, 
the  Aztec  capital,  gave  evidence  of  the  public  prosperity.  Its 
frail  tenements  were  supplanted  by  solid  structures  of  stone 
and  lime.  Its  population  rapidly  increased.  Its  old  feuds 
were  healed.  The  citizens  who  had  seceded  were  again  brought 
under  a  common  government  with  the  main  body,  and  the  quar- 
ter they  occupied  was  permanently  connected  with  the  parent 
city  ;  the  dimensions  of  which,  covering  the  same  ground, 
were  much  larger  than  those  of  the  modern  capital  of 
Mexico.'^' 

Fortunately,  the  throne  was  filled  by  a  succession  of  able 
princes,  who  knew  how  to  profit  by  their  enlarged  resources 
and  by  the  martial  enthusiasm  of  the  nation.  Year  after  year 
saw  them  return,  loaded  with  the  spoils  of  conquered  cities, 
and  with  throngs  of  devoted  captives,  to  their  capital.     No  state 

2''^  The  loval  Tezcucan  chronicler  claims  the  supreme  dignity  for  his  own 
sovereign,  if  not  the  greatest  share  of  the  spoil,  bv  this  imperial  compact. 
(Hist.  Chich.,  cap.  32.)  Torquemada.  on  the  otlicr  hand,  claims  one  half  of 
all  the  conquered  lands  for  Mexico.  (Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  2,  cap.  40.)  All 
agree  in  assigning  only  one  fifth  to  Tlacopan;  and  Veytia  (Hist.  Antig.,  lib. 
3,  cap.  3)  and  Zurita  (Rapport  sur  les  Differentes  Classes  de  chefs  de  la  N'ou- 
velle  Esi)agnc,  trad,  de  Ternaux,  (Paris.  1840,)  p.  11),  both  very  competent 
critics  acquiesce  in  an  equal  division  between  the  two  jirincipal  states  in  tha 
confederacy.  An  ode,  still  extant,  of  Nezahualcoyotl,  in  its  Castilian  ver- 
sion, bears  testimony  to  the  singular  union  of  the  three  powers. 

"  solo  se  acordaran  en  las  Xaciones 
10  bien  que  dobern.ii m;; 
las  ires  Caitzas  que  e'.  Imperio  !:finrarii!i.'' 

C.\MTARRS  DBI,   EmPBRADOR 

Nkzahu.\lcovtl,  MS, 

■*  See  the  plans  of  the  ancient  and  modern  cajiital,  in  I^uUock's  "  Mex- 
ico," first  edition.  The  original  ui  the  ancient  map  was  obtained  by  that 
traveller  from  the  collection  of  the  unfortunate  Boturini;  if,  as  seems  proba- 
ble, it  is  the  one  indicated  on  page  13  of  his  Catalogue,  I  find  no  warrant  for 
Mr.  Bullock's  statement,  that  it  was  the  same  prepared  for  Cortes  by  tha 
Ofder  of  Montezuma. 


40 


AZTEC  CIVILIZATION. 


was  able  long  to  re?i?l  the  accumulated  strength  of  the  confeA 

erates.  At  the  begi.iiiing  of  the  sixteenth  century,  just  before 
the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards,  the  Aztec  dominion  reached  across 
the  continent,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific ;  and,  under  the 
bold  and  bloody  Ahuitzotl,  its  arms  had  been  carried  far  over 
the  limits  already  noticed  as  defining  its  permanent  territory, 
into  the  farthest  corners  of  Guatemala  and  Nicaragua.  This 
extent  of  empire,  however  iimiied  in  comparison  vdth  that  of 
many  other  states,  is  truly  wonderful,  considering  it  as  the  ac- 
quisition of  a  people  whose  Vv'hole  population  and  resources  had 
so  recently  been  comprised  within  the  wails  of  their  own  petty 
city  ;  and  considering,  moreover,  that  the  conquered  territory 
was  thickly  settled  by  various  races,  bred  to  arms  like  the  Mex- 
icans, and  little  inferior  to  them  in  social  organization.  The 
history  of  the  Aztecs  suggests  some  strong  points  of  resem- 
blance to  that  of  the  ancieiu  Romans,  not  only  in  their  military 
successes,  but  in  the  policy  which  led  to  them.''' 

^  Clavigero,  Stor,  del  Messico,  torn.  I.  lib.  2. — Torquemada,  Monarch. 
Ind.,  torn.  I.  lib.  2, — ]5()luiini,  Idea,  p.  146. — Col.  of  Mendoza,  Part  I,  and 
Codex  Telleriano-Remensis,  apud  ruitiq.  of  Mexico,  vols.  T.,  VI. 

Machiavelii  has  noticed  it  as  one  great  cause  of  the  military  t^uccesses  of 
the  i\.oma:i3;  "  that  they  associated  themselves,  in  their  wars,  with  other 
states,  as  the  principal";  and  expresses  his  astonishment  that  a  similar  pol- 
icy sliould  not  have  been  adopted  by  ambitious  republics  in  later  times.  (See 
his  Discorsi  sopra  T.  Livio,  lib.  2,  cap.  4,  apud  Opere  (Geneva,  1798).) 
Th;s,  as  we  have  seen  above,  was  the  very  course   pursued  by  the  Mexicans. 


The  most  important  contribution,  of  late  years,  to  the  early  history  ol 
Mexico  is  the  Ilistoria  Antigua  of  the  Lie.  Don  Mariano  Veytia,  published 
in  the  city  of  Mexico,  in  1836.  This  scholar  was  born  of  an  ancient  and 
highly  respectable  family  at  Puebla,  T71S.  After  fini.shing  his  academic 
education,  he  went  to  Spain,  where  he  was  kindly  received  at  court.  He 
afterwards  visited  several  other  countries  of  Europe,  made  himself  acquainted 
with  their  languages,  and  returned  home  well  stored  with  the  fruits  of  a  dis- 
criminating oljservation  and  diligent  study.  The  rest  of  his  life  he  devoted 
to  letters;  especially  to  the  illustration  of  the  national  history  and  anti- 
quities. As  the  executor  of  the  unfortunate  Boturini,  with  whom,  he  had 
contracted  an  intimacy  in  Madrid,  he  obtained  access  to  his  valuable  collec- 
tion of  manuscripts  in  Mexico,  and  from  them,  and  every  other  source  whicV 
his  position  in  society  and  his  eminent  character  opened  to  him,  he  composed 
various  works,  none  of  which,  however,  except  the  one  before  us,  has  been 
admitted  to  the  honors  of  the  press.  The  time  of  his  death  is  not  given  by 
his  editor,  but  it  was  probably  not  later  than  1780. 

Veytia's  history  covers  the  whole  period,  from  the  first  occupation  of 
Anahuac  to  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  at  which  point  his  labors 
were  unfortunately  terminated  by  his  death.  In  the  early  portion  he  has  en- 
deavored to  trace  the  migratory  movements  and  historical  annals  of  the 
principal  races  who  entered  the  country.     Every  page  bears  testimony  to  the 


FRIMITIVE  RACES.  41 

extent  and  fidelity  of  his  researches ;  and,  if  we  feel  but  moderate  confidence 
in  the  results,  the  fault  is  not  imputable  to  him,  so  much  as  to  the  dark  and 
doubtful  nature  of  the  subject.  As  he  descends  to  later  ages,  he  is  more 
uccupied  with  the  fortunes  of  the  Tezcucan  than  with  those  of  the  Aztec 
dvnasty,  which  have  been  amply  discussed  by  others  of  his  countrymen. 
The  premature  close  of  his  labors  prevented  him,  probably,  from  giving  that 
attention  to  the  domestic  institutions  of  the  people  lie  describes,  to  which 
they  are  entitled  as  the  most  important  subject  of  inquiry  to  the  historian. 
The  deficiency  has  been  supplied  by  his  judicious  editor,  Urteaga,  from 
other  sources.  In  t!ie  early  part  of  his  work,  Veytia  has  explained  the 
chronological  system  of  the  Aztecs,  but,  like  most  writers  preceding  the  ac- 
cur:ue  Gajvia,  with  indifferent  success.  As  a  critic,  he  certainly  ranks  much 
higher  than  the  annalists  who  preceded  him:  and,  v,'heu  his  ow;i  religion  is 
not  involved,  sliows  a  discriminating  judgment.  When  it  is,  he  betravs  a 
fuii  measure  of  tlie  credulity  which  still  maintains  its  hold  on  too  many  even 
of  the  we'.i  informed  of  his  couritrvmen.  The  editor  of  the  work  has  given 
a  verv  interesting  letter  from  the  Abbe  Clavigero  to  Veytia,  written  when  the 
former  was  a  poor  and  humbie  exile,  and  in  liie  tone  of  one  addressing  a 
person  of  high  standing  and  literary  eminence.  Both  were  employed  on  the 
same  subject.  The  writings  of  the  poor  Abb€,  published  again  and  again, 
and  trani:lated  into  various  languages,  have  spread  his  fame  throughout 
Europe ;  while  the  name  of  Veytia,  whose  works  have  been  locked  up  in 
their  primitive  manuscript,  is  scarcely  known  beyond  the  boundaries  o£ 
Mexico. 


AZTEC  CJVILIZATlOar, 


CHAPTER  II. 

Succession  to  the  Crown. — Aztec  Nobility. — Judicial  Sys- 
tem.— Laws  and  Revenues. — Military  Institutions. 

The  form  of  government  differed  in  the  different  states  of 
Anahuac.  Witli  the  Aztecs  and  Tezcucans  it  was  monarchical 
and  nearly  absolute.  The  two  nations  resembled  each  other  so 
much,  in  their  political  institutions,  that  one  of  their  historians 
has  remarked,  in  too  unqualified  a  manner  indeed,  that  what  is 
told  of  one  may  be  always  understood  as  applying  to  the  other.^ 
I  shall  direct  my  inquiries  to  the  Mexican  polity,  borrowing  an 
illustration  occasionally  from  that  of  the  rival  kingdom. 

The  government  was  an  elective  monarchy.  Four  of  the 
principal  nobles,  who  had  been  chosen  by  their  own  body  in  the 
preceding  reign,  filled  the  office  of  electors,  to  whom  were  added, 
with  merely  an  honorary  rank  however,  the  two  royal  allies  of 
Tezcuco  and  Tlacopan.  The  sovereign  was  selected  from  the 
brothers  of  the  deceased  prince,  or,  in  default  of  them,  from  his 
nephews.  Thus  the  election  was  always  restricted  to  the  same 
family.  The  candidate  preferred  must  have  distinguished  him- 
self in  war,  though,  as  in  the  case  of  the  last  Montezuma,  he 
were  a  member  of  the  priesthood.^  This  singular  mode  of 
iupplying  the  throne  had  some  advantages.  The  candidates 
received  an  education  which  fitted  them  for  the  royal  dignity, 
while  the  age,  at  which  they  were  chosen,  not  only  secured  the 
nation  against  the  evils  of  minority,  but  afforded  ample  means 
for  estimating  their  qualifications  for  the  office.  The  result,  at 
all  events,  was  favorable  ;  since  the  throne,  as  already  noticed, 
was  filled  by  a  succession  of  able  princes,  well  qualified  to  rule 
over  a  warlike  and  ambitious  people.  The  scheme  of  election, 
however  defective,  argues  a  more  refined  and  calculating  policy 
than  was  to  have  been  expected  from  a  barbarous  nation.* 

^  Ixtlilxocliitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  36. 

2  This  was  an  exception. — In  Egypt,  also,  the  king  was  frequently  taken 
from  the  warrior  caste,  though  obliged  afterwn;  .  to  be  instructed  in  the 
mystries  of  the  priesthood:  6  6i  tx  fiaxi/io)v  ut:  js6i  lyfievoc  ev&vc  tYivrro  r^ 
Upuv.     Plutarch,,  de  Isid.  et  Osir.,  sec.  9, 

'  Torquemada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  2,  cap.  18;  lib.  11.  cap.  27. — Clavigero^ 


AZTEC  NOBILITY.  ^, 

The  new  monarch  was  installed  in  his  regal  dignity  with  much 
parade  of  religious  ceremony  ;  but  not  until,  by  a  victorious 
campaign,  he  had  obtained  a  sufficient  number  of  captives  to 
grace  his  triumphal  entr}'  into  the  capital,  and  to  furnish  victims 
for  the  dark  and  bloody  rites  which  stained  the  Aztec  supersti- 
tion. Amidst  this  pomp  of  human  sacrifice,  he  was  crowned. 
The  crown,  resembling  a  mitre  in  its  form,  and  curiously  orna- 
mented with  gold,  gems,  and  feathers,  was  placed  on  his  head 
by  the  lord  of  Tezcvco,  the  most  powerful  of  his  royal  allies. 
The  title  of  King,  by  which  the  earlier  Aztec  princes  are  dis- 
tinguished by  Spanish  writers,  is  supplanted  bv  that  o  E:;;jjeror 
in  the  later  reigns,  intimating,  perhaps,  his  superiority  over  the 
confederated  monarchies  of  Tlacopan  and  Tezcuco.* 

The  Aztec  princes,  especially  towards  the  close  of  the  dynasty, 
lived  in  a  barbaric  pomp,  truly  Oriental.  Their  spacious  palaces 
were  provided  with  halls  for  the  different  councils,  who  aided 
the  monarch  in  the  transaction  of  business.  The  chief  of  these 
was  a  sort  of  privy  council,  composed  in  part,  probably,  of  the 
four  electors  chosen  by  the  nobles  after  the  accession,  whose 
places,  when  made  vacant  by  death,  were  immediately  supplied 
as  before.  It  was  the  business  of  this  body,  so  far  as  can  be 
gathered  from  the  very  loose  accounts  given  of  it,  io  advise  the 
king,  in  respect  to  the  government  of  the  provinces,  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  revenues,  and,  indeed,  on  ail  great  matters 
of  public  interest.'' 

In  the  royal  buildings  were  accommodations,  also,  for  a 
numerous  body-guard  of  the  sovereign,  made  up  of  the  chief 
Tr^b'.lity.  It  is  not  easy  to  determine  with  precision,  in  these 
b.irbarian  governments,  the  limits  of  the  several  orders.  It  is 
certain,  there  was  a  distinct  class  of  nobles,  with  large  landed 
possessions,  who  held  the  most  important  offices  near  the  person 

8tor.  del  Messico,  torn,  II.  p.  112. — Acosta,  Natural!  and  Moral  Historic  of 
the  East  and  West  Indies,  Enc;.  trans.  (London,  1604.) 

According  to  Zurita.  an  election  by  the  nobles  took  j}iace  only  in  default 
of  heirs  of  the  deceased  monarch.  (Rapport,  p.  15.)  The  minute  historical 
investigation  of  Clavigero  may  be  permitted  to  outweigh  this  general  asser- 
tion. 

*  Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nueva  Espaua,  lib.  6,  cap.  9,  10,  14;  lib.  S,  cap.  31, 
34.— See  also,  Zurita,  Rapport,  pp.  20-23. 

Ixtlilxochitl  stoutly  claims  this  supremacy  for  his  own  nation.  (Hist. 
rhich.,  M.S.,  cap.  34.)  His  assertions  are  at  variance  with  facts  stated  by 
himself  elsewhere,  and  are  not  countenanced  by  any  other  writer  whom  I  have 
consulted. 

''  Sahagun,  who  pkices  the  elective  power  in  a  much  larger  body,  speaks 
of  four  senators,  who  formed  a  stated  council.  (Hist.de  Nueva  Espana,  lib. 
8,  cap,  30.)  Acosta  enlarges  the  council  beyond  tiie  number  of  the  electors. 
(Lib.  6,  ch.  26.)     No  two  writers  agree. 


44 


AZTEC  Clt^ILIZATIO^. 


of  the  prince,  and  engrossed  the  administration  of  the  province* 

and  cities.'^  Many  of  these  could  trace  their  descent  from  the 
founders  of  the  Aztec  monarchy.  According  to  some  writers  of 
authority  there  were  thirty  great  caciques,  who  had  their  resi- 
dence, at  least  a  part  of  the  year,  in  the  capital,  and  who  could 
muster  a  hundred  thousand  vassals  each  on  their  estates.' 
Without  relying  on  such  wild  statements,  it  is  clear,  from  the 
testimony  of  the  Conquerors,  that  the  country  was  occupied 
by  numerous  powerful  chieftains,  who  lived  like  independent 
princes  on  their  domains.  If  it  be  true  that  the  kings  encouraged, 
or,  indeed,  exacted,  the  residence  of  these  nobles  in  the  capita^ 
and  required  hostages  in  their  absence,  it  is  evident  that  theii 
power  must  have  been  very  formidable.^ 

Their  estates  appear  to  have  been  held  by  various  tenures, 
and  to  have  been  subject  to  different  restrictions.  Some  of  them, 
earned  by  their  own  good  swords,  or  received  as  the  recompense 
of  public  services,  were  held  without  any  limitation,  except  that 
the  possessors  could  not  dispose  of  them  to  a  plebeian.^  Others 
were  entailed  on  the  eldest  male  issue,  and,  in  default  of  such, 
reverted  to  the  crown.  Most  of  them  seem  to  have  been  burdened 
with  the  obligation  of  military  service.  The  principal  chiefs  of 
Tezcuco,  according  to  its  chronicler,  were  expressly  obliged  to 
support  their  prince  with  their  armed  vassals,  to  attend  his  court, 
and  aid  him  in  the  council.  Some,  instead  of  these  services, 
were  to  provide  for  the  repairs  of  his  buildings,  and  to  keep  the 
royal  demesnes  in  order,  with  an  annual  offering,  by  way  of 
homage,  of  fruits  and  flowers.  It  was  usual,  if  we  are  to  believe 
historians,  for  a  new  king,  on  his  accession,  to  confirm  the 
investiture  of  estates  derived  from  the  crown.-^'^ 

•^  Zurita  enumerates  four  orders  of  chiefs  all  of  whom  were  exempted  from 
imposts,  and  enjoyed  very  considerable  privileges.  He  does  not  discriminate 
the  several  ranks  with  much  ])recision.      Rapport,  p.  47.  et  seq. 

''  See,  in  particular,  Herrera,  Historia  General  de  los  Ilechos  de  los  Cas- 
tellanos  en  las  Islas  y  Tierra  Firme  del  Mar  Oceano,  (Madrid,  1730,)  dec,  2. 
lib.  7,  cap.  12. 

^  Carta  de  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana,  Hist,  de  Nueva  Espana.  p.  no. — Tor- 
quemada,  Monarch.  Ind.  lib.  2,  cap.  89  ;  lib.  14,  cap.  6. — Clavigera,  Stor. 
del  Messico,  tom.  II.  p.  121. — Zurita,  Rapport,  pp.  48,  65. 

Ixtliixochitl  (Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  34)  speaks  of  thirty  great  feudal 
chiefs,  some  of  them  Tczcucan  and  Tlaco'pan,  whom  he  styles  "grandees  of 
the  empire"!  He  says  nothing  of  the  great  tail  oi  100,000  vassals  to  each, 
mentioned  by  Torquemada  and  Herrera. 

^  Macehual^ — a  word  equivalent  to  the  French  word  rf^/wr;,?^.  Nor  could 
fiefs  originally  be  held  by  plebeians  in  France.  See  Hallam';  "liddle  Ages, 
(London,  1819,)  vol.  II.  p.  207. 

^  Ixtliixochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  ubi  supra. — Zurita,  Rapport,  ubi  supra, 
— Clarigero,  Stor.     del    Messico,  tom.  II,  pp.  122-124. — Torquemada,  Mon« 


AZTEC  NOBILITY. 


45" 


It  cannot  be  denied  that  we  recognize,  in  all  this,  several 
features  of  the  feudal  system,  which,  no  doubt,  lose  nothing  of 
their  effect,  under  the  hands  of  the  Spanish  writers,  who  are 
fond  of  tracing  analogies  to  European  institutions.  But  such 
analogies  lead  sometimes  to  very  erroneous  conclusions.  I'he 
obligation  of  military  service,  for  instance,  the  most  essential 
principal  of  a  fief,  seems  to  be  naturally  demanded  by  every 
government  from  its  subjects.  As  to  minor  points  of  resem- 
blance they  fall  far  short  of  that  harmonious  system  of  reciprocal 
service  and  protection,  which  embraced,  in  nice  gradation,  ever)' 
order  of  a  feudal  monarchy.  The  kingdoms  of  Anahuac  were, 
in  their  nature,  despotic,  attended,  indeed,  with  many  miugating 
circumstances,  unknown  to  the  despotism  of  the  East ;  but  it  is 
chimerical  to  look  for  much  in  common — beyond  a  few  accidental 
fonns  and  ceremonies — with  those  aristocratic  institutions  oi  the 
Middle  Ages,  which  made  the  court  of  every  petty  baron  the 
precise  image  in  miniature  of  that  of  his  sovereign. 

The  legislative  power,  both  in  Mexico  and  Tezcuco,  resided 
wholly  with  the  monarch.  This  feature  of  despotism,  however, 
was,  in  some  measure,  counteracted  by  the  constitution  of  the 
judicial  tribunals, — of  more  importance,  among  a  rude  people, 
than  the  legislative,  since  it  is  easier  to  make  good  laws  for 
such  a  comm.unity,  than  to  enforce  them,  and  the  best  laws, 
badly  administered,  are  but  a  mockery.  Over  each  of  the  princi« 
pal  cities,  with  its  dependent  territories,  was  placed  a  supreme 
judge,  appointed  by  the  crown,  with  original  and  final  jurisdic- 
tion in  both  civil  and  criminal  cases.  There  was  no  appeal  from 
his  sentence  to  any  other  tribunal,  nor  even  to  the  king.  He 
held  his  omce  during  life  ;  and  any  one,  who  usurped  his  en- 
signs, was  punished  with  death.'" 

Below  this  magistrate  wr.s  a  court,  established  in  each  pro- 
vince, and  consisting  of  tliree  members.  It  held  concurrent 
jurisdiction  with  the  supreme  judge  in  civil  suits,  but,  in  criminal, 

arch.     Ind.,  lib.  14,  cap.  7. — Oomara,  Cronica  de   Xueva   Esprfia.  cap.    199, 
ap.  Barcia,  torn,  II. 

Boturini  (Idea,  p.  165)  carrie.s  back  the  origin  oijiefs  in  Anahuac,  to  the 
fwelfth  century.  Carli  savs,  "  Le  svsteme  politique  y  etoit  feoclal."  In  the 
next  page  he  tells  us,  "  Personal  merit  aione  made  t\Se  distinction  of  the 
nobility"!  (Letters  Americaines,  trad.  Fr.,  (Paris,  7SS,;  tom.  I.  let.  11.) 
Carli  was  a  writer  of  a  lively  imagination. 

This  magistrate,  who  was  called  cihuacoatl,  was  also  to  audit  the  ac- 
counts of  the  collectors  of  the  taxes  in  his  district.  (Clavigcro,  Stor.  del 
Messico,  tom.  IT.];.  127, — Torqucmada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  11,  cap.  25.) 
The  Mendoza  Collection  contains  a  painting  of  the  courts  oi  justice,  ander 
Montezuma,  who  introduced  great  changes  in  them.  (Antiq.  of  Mexico, 
▼ol.  I.,  Plate  70.)  According  to  the  interpreter,  an  appeal  lay  £rom  them,  in 
certain  cases,  to  tlie  king's  council.  Ibid.,  vol.  VI.  p.  79. 


^  AZTEC  civilization: 

an  appeal  lay  <"  ^  his  tT^'-ldnal.  Besides  these  courts,  there  wai 
a  body  of  infeuor  magistrates,  distributed  through  the  country, 
chosen  by  the  people  themselves  in  their  several  districts. 
Their  authority  was  limited  to  smaller  causes,  while  the  more 
important  were  carried  up  to  the  higher  courts.  There  was  still 
another  class  of  subordinate  ofhcers,  appointed  also  by  the  peo- 
ple, each  of  whom  was  to  watch  over  the  conduct  of  a  certain 
number  of  families,  and  report  any  disorder  or  breach  of  the 
laws  to  the  higher  authorities.^ 

In  Tezcuco  the  judicial  arrangements  v/ere  of  a  more  refined 
character ;  ^^  and  a  gradation  of  tribunals  finally  terminated 
in  a  general  meeting  or  parliament,  consisting  of  all  the  judges, 
great  and  petty,  throughout  the  kingdom,  held  every  eighty 
days  in  the  capital,  over  which  the  king  presided  in  person. 
This  body  determined  all  suits,  which,  from  their  importance,  or 
difficulty,  had  been  reserved  for  its  consideration  by  the  lower 
tribunals.  It  served,  moreover,  as  a  council  of  state,  to  assist 
the  monarch  in  the  transaction  of  public  business." 

Such  are  the  vague  and  imperfect  notices  that  can  be  gleaned, 
respecting  the  Aztec  tribunals,  from  the  hieroglyphical  paintings 
still  preserved,  and  from  the  most  accredited  Spanish  writers. 
These,  being  usually  ecclesiastics,  have  taken  much  less  interest 
in  this  subject,  than  in  matters  connected  with  religion.  They 
find  some  apology,  certainly,  in  the  early  destruction  of  most  of 
the  Indian  paintings,  from  which  their  information  was,  in  part, 
to  be  gathered. 

On  the  whole,  however,  ii  must  be  inferred,  that  the  Aztecs  were 
sufficiently  civilized  to  evince  a  solicitude  for  the  rights  both  of 

1-  Clavigero,  Stor.  del  Messico,  torn.  II.  pp.  127,  128. — Torquemada, 
Monarch.  Ind.,  ubi  supra. 

In  this  arrangement  of  the  more  liumble  magistrates  we  are  reminded  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  hundreds  and  tithings,  especially  the  latter,  the  members 
of  which  were  to  watch  over  the  conduct  of  the  families  in  their  districts,  and 
bring  the  offenders  to  justice.  The  hard  penalty  of  mutual  responsibility 
was  not  known  to  the  Mexicans. 

13  Zurita,  so  temperate,  usualiy,   in   his   language,  remarks,    that,    m    the 
capital,  "  Tribunals  were  instituted  which  might  com])are  in  their  organiza- 
tion with  the  royal  audiences  of  Castile."    (Rapport,  p.  93.)    His  observation! 
are   chiefly  drawn  from  the  Tezcucan   courts,  which,  in  their  forms   of  pr& 
cedure,  he  says,  were  like  the  Aztec.  (Loc.  cit. ) 

"  Boturini,  Idea,  page.  87.  Torquemada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  11,  cap.  26. 

Zurita  compares  this  body  to  the  Castilian  cortes.  It  would  seem,  how- 
ever, according  to  him,  to  have  consisted  only  of  twelve  principal  judges, 
besides  the  king.  Mis  meaning  is  somewhat  doubtful.  (Rapport,  pp.  94, 
loi,  io6. )  M.  dc  Humboldt,  in  his  account  of  the  Aztec  courts,  has  confouncied 
them  with  the  Tezcucan  Comp.  Vues  des  Cordillbres  et  Monumens  def 
peuples  Indigenes  del'  Am^rique,  (Paris,  1810,)  p.  55,  and  Clavigero,  Sto^ 
del  Messico,  torn.  II.  pp.  128,  IZ9. 


JUDICIAL  SYSTEM,  47 

property  and  of  persons.  The  law,  authorizing  an  appeal  to 
the  highest  judicature  in  crimnial  matters  only,  shows  an  atten- 
tion to  personal  security,  rendered  the  more  obligatory  by  the 
extreme  severity  of  their  penal  code,  which  would  naturally  have 
made  them  more  cautious  of  a  wrong  conviction.  The  existence 
of  a  number  of  co-ordinate  tribunals,  without  a  central  one  of 
supreme  authority  to  control  the  whole,  must  have  given  rise  to 
very  discordant  interpretations  of  the  law  in  different  districts. 
But  this  is  an  evil  which  they  shared  in  common  with  most  oi 
the  nations  of  Europe. 

The  provision  for  making  the  superior  judges  wholly  indepen- 
dent of  the  crown  was  worthy  of  an  enlightened  people.  It  pre- 
sented the  strongest  barrier,  that  a  mere  constitution,  could 
afford,  against  tyranny.  It  is  not,  indeed,  to  be  supposed,  that, 
in  a  government  otherwise  so  despotic,  means  could  not  be 
found  for  influencing  the  magistrate.  But  it  was  a  great  step  to 
fence  round  his  authority  with  the  sanction  of  the  law  ;  and  no 
one  of  the  Aztec  monarchs,  as  far  as  I  know,  is  accused  of  an 
attempt  to  violate  it. 

To  receive  presents  or  a  bribe,  to  be  guilty  of  collusion  in 
any  way  with  a  suitor,  was  punished,  in  a  judge,  with  death.  Who, 
or  what  tribunal,  decided  as  to  his  guilt,  does  not  appear.  In 
Tezcuco  this  was  done  by  the  rest  of  the  court.  But  the  king 
presided  over  that  body.  The  Tezcucan  prince,  Nezahualpilli, 
who  rarely  tempered  justice  with  mercy,  put  one  judge  to  death 
for  taking  a  bribe,  and  another  for  determining  suits  in  his  own 
house, — a  capital  offence,  also,  by  law.-^" 

The  judges  of  the  higher  tribunals  were  maintained  from  the 
produce  of  a  part  of  the  crown  lands,  reserved  for  this  purpose. 
They,  as  well  as  the  supreme  judge,  held  their  offices  for  life. 
The  proceedings  in  the  courts  were  conducted  with  decency 
and  order.  The  judges  wore  an  appropriate  dress,  and 
attended  to  business  both  parts  of  the  day,  dining,  always,  for 
the  sake  of  despatch  in  an  apartment  of  the  same  building 
where  they  held  their  session  ;  a  method  of  proceeding  much 
commended  by  the  Spanish  chroniclers,  to  whom  despatch  was 
not  very  familiar  in  their  own  tribunals.  Officers  attend  to 
preserve  order,  and  others  summoned  the  parties,  and  produced 
them  in  court.  No  counsel  was  employed  ;  the  parties  stated 
their  own  case,  and  supported  it  by  their  witnesses.  The  oath 
of  the  accused  was  also  admitted  in  evidence.    The  statement  of 

^  "Ah!  si  esta  se  repitiera  hoy,  que  bueno  scria  I  "  exclaims  Sahagun's 
Mexican  editor.  Ifi^t.  de  Niieva  Espana,  torn.  II.  p.  304,  nota — Zurita. 
Rapport,  p.  102. —  1  orquemada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  ubi  supra. — IxtlilxochitU 
Hist.  Chicb.,  MS»,  cap.  67. 


8  AZTEC  CIVILIZATION, 

the  case,  the  tes^V.ony,  and  the  proceedings  of  the  trial,  were 
all  set  forth  by  a  clerk,  in  hieroglyphical  paintings,  and  handed 
over  to  the  court.  The  paintings  were  executed  with  so  much 
accuracy,  that,  in  all  suits  respecting  real  property,  they  were 
allowed  to  be  produced  as  good  authority  in  the  Spanish  tribu- 
nals, very  long  atier  the  Conquest ;  and  a  chair  for  their  study 
and  inierpreiation  was  established  at  Mexico  in  1553,  which 
has  long  since  shared  the  fate  of  most  other  provisions  for  learn, 
ing  in  that  unfortunate  country.-"^ 

A  capital  sentence  was  indicated  by  a  line  *^raced  with  r^n 
arrow  across  the  portrait  of  the  accused.  In  Tezcuco,  where 
the  king  presided  in  the  court,  this,  according  to  the  national 
chronicler,  was  done  Vviih  extraordinary  parade.  His  description 

•hich  is  of  jaiher    a    poetical   ca^t,  1  give  in  his   own    words. 

*  In  tlie  royal  palace  of  Tezcuco  was  a  courtyard,  on  the 
opposite  sides  of  which  were  two  halls  of  justice.  In  the 
principal  one,  called  the  '  tribunal  of  God,'  was  a  throne  of 
pure  gold,  inlaid  with  turquoises  and  other  precious  stones. 
On  a  stool,  ii;  front,  was  placed  a  human  skull,  crowned  with  an 
immense  emerald,  of  a  pvramidal  form,  and  surmounted  by  an 
aigrette  of  brilliant  plumes  and  precious  stones.  The  skull  was 
laid  on  a  heap  of  military  weapons,  shields,  quivers,  bows, 
and  arrows.  Th^-  v^'alls  were  hung  with  tapestry,  made 
of  the  hair  of  different  wild  animals,  of  rich  and  various 
colors,  festooned  by  gold  rings,  and  embroidered  with  figures 
of  birds  and  flowers.  /.  oove  the  throne  was  a  canopy  of 
variegated  plumage,  from  the  centre  of  which  shot  forth  re- 
splendent rays  of  g«ld  and  jewels.  The  other  tribunal,  called 
*  the  King's,'  was  also  surmounted  by  a  gorgeous  canopy  of 
feathers,  on  which  were  emblazoned  the  royal  arms.  Here  the 
sovereign  gave  public  audience,  and  communicated  his  despatches. 
But,  when  he  decided  important  causes,  or  conhrmed  a  capital 
sentence,  he  passed  to  the  '  tribunal  of  God,'  attended  by  the 
fourteen  great  lords  of  the  realm,  marshalled  according  to  thcii 
rank.  Then,  putting  on  his  mitred  crown,  incrusted  with  pre- 
cious stones,  and  holding  a  golden  arrow,  by  way  of  sceptre,  in 
his  left  hand,  he  laid  his  right  upon  the  skull,  and  pronounced 
judgment."  ^'    All  this  looks  rather  fine  for  a  court  of  justice,  it 

1*^  Zurita,  Rapport,  pp.  95,  100,  103. — Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nveva  Espana, 
loc.  cit. — Humboldt,  Vues  des  Cordilieres,  pp.  55,  56. — Torqucmada,  Mon- 
arch. Ind. ,  lib.  II,  cap.  25. 

Clavigero  says,  the  accused  night  free  himself  by  oath;  "  II  reo  poteva 
gurgarsi  col  giuramento."  (Stor.  del  Messico,  torn.  II.  p.  129.)  Whal 
rogue,  then,  could  ever  have  been  convicted  ? 

^'^  Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  36. 

These  various  objects  had  a  symoolical  meaning,  according  to  Boturiiv 
Idea,  p.  84. 


lAlVS  AND  REVRNUES.  49 

must  be  owned.     But  it   is  certain,   that  the   Tezcucans,   as  we 

shall  see  hereafter,  possessed  both  the  materials,  and  the  skill 
requisite  to  work  them  up  in  this  manner.  Had  they  been  a 
little  further  advanced  in  refinement,  one  might  well  doubt  their 
having  the  bad  taste  to  do  so. 

The  laws  of  the  Aztecs  were  registered,  and  exhibited  to  the 
people,  in  their  hieroglyphical  paintings.  Much  the  larger 
part  of  them,  as  in  every  nation  imperfectly  civilized,  relates 
rather  to  the  security  of  persons,  than  of  property.  The  great 
crimes  against  society  were  all  made  capital.  Even  the  murder 
of  a  slave  was  punished  with  death.  Adulterers,  as  among  the 
Jews,  were  stoned  to  death.  Thieving,  according  to  the  degree 
of  the  offence,  was  punished  by  slavery  or  death.  Yet  the 
Mexicans  could  have  been  under  no  great  apprehension  of  this 
crime,  since  the  entrances  to  their  dwellings  were  not  secured 
by  bolts,  or  fastenings  of  any  kind.  It  was  a  capital  offence  to 
remove  the  boundaries  of  another's  lands  ;  to  alter  the  establish- 
ed measures  ;  and  for  a  guardian  not  to  be  able  to  give  a  good 
account  of  his  ward's  property.  These  regulations  evince  a 
regard  for  equity  in  dealings,  and  for  private  rights,  which 
argues  a  considerable  progress  in  civilization.  Prodigals,  who 
squandered  their  patrimony,  were  punished  in  like  manner  ;  a 
severe  sentence  since  the  criine  brought  its  adequate  punishment 
along  with  it.  Intemperance,  which  was  the  burden,  moreover, 
of  their  religious  homilies,  was  visited  with  the  severest  penal- 
ties ;  as  if  they  had  foreseen  in  it  the  consuming  canker  of  their 
own,  as  well  as  of  the  other  Indian  races  in  later  times.  It  wa.' 
punished  in  the  young  with  death,  and  in  older  persons  with 
loss  of  rank  and  confiscation  of  property.  Yet  a  decent  con- 
viviality was  not  meant  to  be  proscribed  at  their  festivals,  and 
they  possessed  the  means  of  indulging  it,  in  a  mild  fermented 
liquor,  called  piilque,  which  is  still  popular,  not  only  with  the 
Indian,  but  the  European  population  of  the  country.^^ 

The  rites  of  marriage  were  celebrated  with  as  much  formality 

'"  Paintings  of  the  Mcndoz.i  Collection,  PI.  72,  and  Interpretation  ap. 
Ant;.[u.  (jf  Mexico,  vol.  VI.  \i.  87. — Torcjueinada,  Monarch.  Ind..  \\\\  i  ?, 
cap.  7. —  Clavij^cro,  Stor.  del  Messico,  torn.  II.  pp.  130-134. —  t!aniartvi, 
liist.  de  Tlascala,  MS. 

Thev  could  scarcely  have  been  an  intemperate  ]5eo]:>Ic,  witli  these  hcav\' 
penaliies  hanging  over  them.  Indeed,  Zurita  bears  testimony  that  those 
Sjjaniards,  who  thought  they  were,  greatly  erred.  (Rapport,  p.  I12.)  Mons, 
Ternaux's  translation  of  a  passage  of  the  Anonymons  Conqueror,  "  aucun 
peupie  n'est  aussi  sobre,"  (Kecueil  de  Pi&ces  Relatives  ^  la  Conquete  de 
Mc.xique,  ap.  Voyage,  &c.,  (Paris,  183S,)  \>.  54,)  may  give  a  more  favorable 
impression,  however,  than  that  intendecl  by  his  original,  whose  remark  is 
confined  to  abstemiousness  ia  eating.  See  the  Relatione,  ap,  Ramusio, 
Raccolta  delle  Navigationi  et  Viaggi.  (Venetia,  1554-1565.) 


JO  AZTEC  CIl^ILIZA  T70N. 

as  in  any  Christian  country ;  and  the  institution  was  held  in 
such  reverence,  that  a  tribunal  was  instituted  for  the  sole  pur- 
pose of  determining  questions  relating  to  it.  Divorces  could 
not  be  obtained,  until  authorized  by  a  sentence  of  this  court, 
after  a  patient  hearing  of  the  parties. 

But  the  most  remarkable  part  of  the  Aztec  code  was  that 
relating  to  slavery.  There  were  several  descriptions  of  slaves  ; 
prisoners  taken  in  war,  who  were  almost  ahvays  reserved  for  the 
dreadful  doom  of  sacrifice  ;  criminals^  public  debtors,  persons 
who,  from  extreme  poverty,  voluntarily  resigned  their  freedom, 
and  children  who  were  sold  by  their  own  parents.  In  the  last 
instance,  usually  occasioned  also  by  poverty,  it  was  common 
for  the  parents,  with  the  master's  consent,  to  substitute  others 
of  their  children  successively,  as  they  grew  up;  thus  distributing 
the  burden,  as  equally  as  possible,  among  the  different  members 
of  the  family.  The  willingness  of  freemen  to  incur  the  penal- 
ties of  this  condition  is  explained  by  the  mild  form  in  which 
it  existed.  The  contract  of  sale  was  executed  in  the  presence  of 
at  least  four  witnesses.  The  services  to  be  exacted  were  limited 
with  great  precision.  The  slave  was  allowed  to  have  his  own 
family,  to  hold  property,  and  even  other  slaves.  His  children 
were  free.  No  one  could  be  born  to  slavery  in  Mexico ;  ^' 
an  honorable  distinction,  not  known.  I  believe,  in  any  civilized 
community  where  slavery  has  been  sanctioned.^  Slaves  were 
not  sold  by  their  masters,  unless  when  these  were  driven  to  it 
by  poverty.  They  were  often  liberated  by  them  at  their  death, 
and  sometimes,  as  there  was  no  natural  repugnance  founded  on 
difference  of  blood  and  race,  were  married  to  them.  Yet  a 
refractor}'  or  vicious  slave  might  be  led  into  the  market,  with 
a  collar  round  his  neck,  which  intimated  his  bad  character,  and 
there  be  publicly  sold,  and,  on  a  second  sale,  reserved  for  sac- 
rifice.^^ 

Such  are   some   of  the  most  striking  features  of  the  Aztec 

15  In  Ancient  Egypt  the  child  of  a  slave  was  born  free,  if  the  father  were 
free.  (Diodorus,  liibl.  Hist.,  lib.  i,  sec.  80.)  This,  though  more  liberal 
than  the  code  of  most  countries,  fell  short  of  the  Mexican. 

^^  In  Egypt  the  same  penalty  was  attached  to  the  mutder  of  a  slave,  as  to 
that  of  a  freeman.  (Ibid.,  lib.  i,  sec.  77.)  Robert,=on  speaks  of  a  class  of 
slaves  held  so  cheap  in  the  eye  of  the  Mexican  law,  that  one  might  kill  them 
with  impunity.  (History  of  America,  (ed.  London,  1776,)  vol.  III.  p.  164.) 
This,  however,  was  not  in  Mexico,  but  in  Nicaragua,  (see  his  own  authority, 
Herrera,  Hist.  General,  dec.  3,  lib.  4,  cap.  2,)  a  distant  country,  not  incorpo- 
rated  in  the  M'-xican  empire,  and  with  laws  and  institutions  very  different 
from  those  of  the  latter. 

-1  Torquemada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  12,  cap.  15;  lib.  14,  cap.  16,  17. — 
Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nueva  Espafia,  lib.  8,  cap.  14.— Clavigero,  Stor.  del 
Me.ssico,  torn.  II.  pp.  134-136. 


LA  yVS  AND  RE  VENUES. 


51 


code,  to  which  the  Tezcucan  bore  great  resemblance.'*'     With 

ionie  exceptions,  it  is  stamped  with  the  severity,  the  ferocity 
indeed,  of  a  rude  people;  hardened  by  familiarity  with  scenes  of 
blood,  and  relying  on  physical,  instead  of  moral  means,  for  the 
correction  of  evil.''^  Still,  it  evinces  a  profound  respect  for  the 
great  principles  of  morality,  and  as  clear  a  perception  of  these 
principles  as  is  to  be  found  in  the  most  cultivated  nations. 

The  royal  revenues  were  derived  from  various  sources.  The 
crown  lands,  which  appear  to  have  been  extensive,  made  their 
returns  in  kind.  The  places  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  capital 
were  bound  to  supply  workmen  and  materials  for  building  the 
king's  palaces,  and  keeping  them  in  repair.  They  were  also 
to  furnish  fuel,  provisions,  and  whatever  was  necessary  for  his 
ordinary  domestic  expenditure,  which  was  certainly  on  no 
stinted  scale.^*  The  principal  cities,  which  had  numerous 
villages  and  a  large  territory  dependent  on  them,  were  dis- 
tributed into  districts,  with  each  a  share  of  the  lands  allot- 
ted to  it,  for  its  support.  The  inhabitants  paid  a  stipulated 
part  of  the  produce  to  the  crown.  The  vassals  of  the  great 
chiefs,  also,  paid  a  portion  of  their  earnings  into  the  public 
treasury ;  an  arrangement  not  at  all  in  the  spirit  of  the  feudal 
institutions.*' 


22  Ixtlilxocliiil,  Hist,  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  38,  and  Relaciones,  MS. 

The  Tezcucan  code,  indeed,  as  digested  under  the  great  Is'ezahualcoyotl, 
formed  the  basis  of  the  Mexican,  in  the  latter  days  of  the  empire.  Zurita, 
Rapport,  p.  95. 

'•^■^  In  this,  at  least,  they  did  not  reseml)le  the  Romans;  of  whom  their  coun- 
tryman could  boast,  "  Gloriari  licet,  iiuUi  gentium  mitiores  placuisse  pcenas." 
Livy,  Hist.,  lib.  i,  cap.  28. 

^  The  Tezcucan  revenues  were,  in  like  manner,  jjaid  in  the  produce  of  the 
country.  The  various  branches  of  the  royal  expenditure  were  defrayed  by 
sjiecified  towns  and  districts;  and  the  whole  arrangements  here,  and  in 
Mexico,  bore  a  remarkablf  resemblance  to  the  financial  regulatiaais  of  the 
Persian  empire,  as  reported  by  the  Cireek  writers;  (see  Herodotus,  Clio, 
sec.  192;)  with  this  difference,  howe  er,  that  the  towns  of  Persia  proper 
were  not  burdened  with  tributes,  like  the  conquered  cities.  Idem,  Thalia, 
sec.  97. 

'■^  Lorenzana,  Hist,  de  Nneva  Espafia,p.  172. — Torquemada,  Monarch. 
Ind.,  lib,  2,  cap.  89;  lib.  14,  cap,  7. — lioturini.  Idea,  p.  t66. — Camargo, 
Hist,  de  Tlascala,  MS. — Herrera,  Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  7,  cap  13. 

The  people  of  the  provinces  were  distributed  into  calpulli  or  tribes,  who 
held  the  lands  of  the  neighborhood  in  common.  Officers  of  their  own  ap- 
pointment parcelled  out  these  lands  among  the  several  families  of  the 
calpulli ;  and,  on  the  extinction  or  removal  of  a  family,  its  lands  reverted  to 
the  common  stock,  to  be  again  distributed.  The  individual  proprietor  had 
no  power  to  alienate  them.  The  laws  rcgulatir;;;  these  matters  were  very 
precise,  and  had  existed  ever  since  the  occupation  of  the  country  by  th« 
Aztecs.  Zurita,  Rapport,  pp.  51-62. 


i* 


AZTEC  CTVTLTZATTOI^. 


In  addition  to  this  tax  on  all  the  agricultural  produce  of  the 

kingdom,  there  was  another  on  its  manufactures.  The  nature 
and  variety  of  the  tributes  will  be  best  shown  by  an  enumera- 
tion of  some  of  the  principal  articles.  These  were  cotton 
dresses,  and  mantles  of  featherwork  exquisitely  made  ;  orna- 
mented armor ;  vases  and  plates  of  gold  ;  gold  dust,  bands  and 
bracelets ;  crystal,  gilt,  and  varnished  jars  and  goblets ;  bells, 
arms,  and  utensils  of  copper ;  reams  of  paper ;  grain,  fruits,  copal, 
amber,  cochineal,  cacao,  wild  animals  and  birds,  timber,  lime, 
mats,  &C.26  In  this  curious  medley  of  the  most  homely  commo- 
dities, and  the  elegant  superrluities  of  luxury,  it  is  singular  that 
no  mention  should  be  made  of  silver^  the  great  staple  of  the 
country  in  later  times,  and  the  use  of  which  was  certainly 
known  to  the  Aztecs."' 

Garrisons  were  established  in  the  larger  cities, — probably 
those  at  a  distance,  and  recently  conquered, — to  keep  down  re- 
volt, and  to  enforce  the  payment  of  the  tribute.^     Tax-gatherers 

2«  The  following  items  of  the  tribute  furnished  by  different  cities  will  give 
2  more  precise  idea  of  its  nature  : — 20  chests  of  ground  chocolate  ;  40  pieces: 
of  armor,  of  a  particular  device;  2400  loads  of  large  mantles,  of  twisted 
cloth;  800  ioads  of  smali  mantles,  of  rich  wearing  apparel;  5  pieces  of  armor 
of  rich  feathers  ;  60  pieces  of  armor,  of  common  feathers;  a  chest  of  l>eans; 
a  chest  of  chian;  a  chest  of  maize 5  8000 reams  of  paper;  likewise  2000  loaves 
of  very  white  salt,  refined  in  the  shape  of  a  moukl,  for  the  consumption 
only  of  the  lords  of  Mexico;  8000  lumps  of  unrefined  copal;  400  smaU 
baskets  ol  white  refined  copal;  100  copper  axes;  80  loads  of  red  chocolate; 
800  xicaras,  out  of  which  they  drank  cliocolatc  ;  a  little  vessel  of  small  tur- 
quoise stones;  4  chests  of  timber,  full  of  maize;  4000  loads  of  lime  ;  tiles  of 
gold,  of  the  size  of  an  oyster,  and  as  thick  as  the  finger  ;  40  bags  of  cochineal; 
20  bags  of  gold  dust,  of  the  finest  quality;  a  diadem  of  gold,  of  a  specified 
pattern;  20  lip-jewels  of  clear  amber,  ornamented  with  gold;  200  loads  of 
chocolate:  100  pots  or  jars  of  liquid-amber;  8000  handfuls  of  rich  scarlet 
feathers;  40  tiger-skins;  1600  bundles  of  cotton,  &c.,  &c.  Col.  de  Mendoza, 
part  2,  ap.  Antiqu.  of  Mexico,  vols.  I. ,  VI. 

^Mapadc  Tributos,  ap.  Lorenzana,  Hist,  de  Nueva  Kspana. — Tribute- 
roll,  ap.  Antiq.  of  Mexico,  vol.  I.,  and  Interpretation,  vol,  VI..  pp.  17-44. 

The  Mendoza  Collection,  in  the  Bodleian  Library  at  O.xford,  contains  a 
roll  of  the  cities  of  the  Mexican  empire  A-ith  the  specific  tributes  exacted  from 
them.  It  is  a  copy  made  after  the  Conquest  with  a  pen  on  European  paper 
(See  Foreign  Quarterly  Review,  No.  XVII.  Art.  4.)  An  original  painting  of 
the  same  roll  was  in  l]oturini's  museum.  Lorenzana  has  given  us  engravings 
of  it,  in  which  the  outlines  of  the  Oxford  copy  are  filiea  up,  though  some- 
what rudely.  Clavigero  considers  the  explanations  in  Lorenzana's  edition 
/ery  inaccurate,  (Stor.  del  Messico,  tom.  I.  p.  25,)  a  judgment  confirmed  by 
Aglio,  who  has  transcribed  the  entire  collection  of  the  Mendoza  papers,  in 
the  first  volume  of  the  Antiquities  of  Mexico.  It  would  have  much  facili- 
tated reference  to  his  plates,  if  they  had  been  numbered; — a  strange  omission ! 

28  The  caciques,  who  submitted  to  the  allied  arms,  were  usually  confirmed 
In  their  authority,  and  the  conquered  places  allowed  t'  .;tain  their  laws  and 
wsages.  (Zurita,  Rapport,  p.  67.)  The  conquests  were  .lOt  always  partitioned, 
but  sometimes,  singularly  enough,  weie  held  in  common  by  the  three  power* 
Ibid.,  p.  II. 


LA  WS  AND  RE  VENUES. 


55 


^ere  also  distributed  throughout  the  kingdom,  who  were  recog- 
nized by  their  official  badges,  and  dreaded  from  the  merciless 
rigor  of  their  exactions.  By  a  stern  law,  every  defaulter  was 
liable  to  be  taken  and  sold  as  a  slave.  In  the  capital  were 
spacious  granaries  and  warehouses  for  the  reception  of  the 
tributes,  A  receiver-general  was  quartered  in  the  palace,  who 
rendered  in  an  exact  account  of  the  various  contributions,  and 
watched  over  the  conduct  of  the  inferior  agents,  in  whom  the 
least  malvers^wtion  was  summarily  punished.  This  functionary 
was  furnished  with  a  map  of  the  whole  empire,  with  a  minute 
specilication  of  th«  imposts  assessed  on  every  part  of  it.  These 
imposts,  moderate  under  the  reigns  of  the  early  princes,  became 
so  burdensome  under  those  at  the  close  of  the  dynasty,  being 
rendered  still  more  oppressive  by  the  manner  of  collection,  that 
they  bred  disaffection  throughout  the  land,  and  prepared  the 
way  for  its  conquest  by  th«  Spaniards.^"* 

Communication  was  maintaiwed  with  the  remotest  parts  of  the 
country  by  means  of  couriers.  Post-houses  were  established  on 
the  great  roads,  about  two  leagues  distant  from  each  other.  The 
couriers,  bearing  his  despatches  in  the  form  of  a  hieroglyphical 
painting,  ran  with  them  to  the  ikst  station,  where  they  were 
taken  by  another  messenger  and  e&rried  forward  to  the  next, 
and  so  on  till  they  reached  the  capital.  These  couriers,  trained 
from  childhood,  travelled  with  incredible  swiftness ;  not  four  or 
five  leagues  an  hour,  as  an  old  chrouicier  would  make  us  be- 
lieve, but  with  such  speed  that  despatches  were  carried  from  one 
to  two  hundred  miles  a  day.^  Fresh  fish  was  frequently  served 
at  Montezuma's  table  in  twenty-four  hours  from  the  time  it  had 
been  taken  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  two  hundred  miles  from  the 
capital.  In  this  way  intelligence  of  the  move^jents  of  the  royal 
armies    was   rapidly   brought  to   court ;    and   ehe   dress  of   the 


®  Collec.  of  Mendoza,  ap.  Antiq.  of  Mexico,  vol.  VY,  ^.  jT— Carta  de 
Cortes,  ap.  Lorcnzana,  Hist,  de  Nueva  Espan.-x,  p.  no. — Twqviehiada,  Mon- 
arch. Ind.,  lib.  14,  c:ip.  6.  8. — Ilerrera.  Hist.  General,  dec.  :?.  lib  7,  cap. 
13. — Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nueva  Espafia,  ib.  8,  cap.  18,  19. 

*' Ti.e  Hon.  C.  A.  iMiirray,  whose  imperturbable  got)d  hiinnir  imder  real 
trouV)les  forms  a  contrast,  rather  striking,  to  the  sensitiveness  of  s;.iTie  of  his 
predecessors  to  imaginary  ones,  tells  us,  among  other  marvels,  tliM  an  Indian 
of  his  ]5ariy  travelled  a  hundred  miles  in  four  and  twenty  hours.  (J'ravels  in 
N.  America,  (New  York,  1839,)  vol.  I.  ]).  193.)  The  Greek,  who,  according 
to  Plutarch,  brought  the  news  of  victory  to  I'latoea.  il  hundred  and  twentv- 
five  miles,  i;i  a  day,  was  a  better  traveler  still.  Some  interesting  facts  on  the 
pedestrian  capabilities  of  man  in  the  savage  state  are  collected  bv  iiufton,  v/ho 
concludes,  truly  enough,  "  L'homme  civilise  ne  connait  pas  ses  force*-" 
(Ilistoire  Naturellc;  iJe  la  Jeuncsse. ) 

M'.'xico  3  \  oL.  1 


54 


AZTEC  civilizatton: 


courier,  denoting  by  its  color  that  of  his  tidings,  spread  joy  of 
consternation  in  the  tor/ns  through  which  he  passed. 

But  the  great  aim  of  the  Aztec  institutions,  to  which  private 
discipline  and  public  honors  were  alike  directed,  was  the  pro- 
fession of  arms.  In  Mexico,  as  in  Egypt,  the  soldier  shared 
with  the  priest  the  highest  consideration.  The  king,  as  we  have 
seen,  must  be  an  experienced  warrior.  The  tutelary  deity  of  the 
Aztecs  was  the  god  of  war.  A  great  object  of  their  military  ex- 
peditions v/as,  to  gather  hecatombs  of  captives  for  his  altars.  The 
soldier,  who  fell  in  battle,  was  transported  at  once  to  the  region 
of  ineffable  bliss  in  the  bright  mansions  of  the  Sun.*^  Ever) 
war  therefore,  became  a  crusade  ;  and  the  warrior,  animated  by 
a  religious  enthusiasm,  like  that  of  the  early  Saracen,  or  the 
Christian  crusader,  was  not  only  raised  to  a  contempt  of  danger, 
but  courted  it,  for  the  imperishable  crown  of  martyrdom.  Thus 
we  find  the  same  impulse  acting  in  the  most  opposite  quarters  of 
the  globe,  and  the  Asiatic,  the  P^uropean,  and  the  American, 
each  earnestly  invoking  the  holy  name  of  religion  in  the  perpe- 
tration of  human  butchery. 

The  question  of  war  was  discussed  in  a  council  of  the  king 
and  his  chief  nobles.  Ambassadors  were  sent,  previously  to  its 
declaration,  to  require  the  hostile  state  to  receive  the  Mexican 
gods,  and  to  pay  the  customary  tribute.  The  persons  of  ambas- 
sadors were  held  sacred  throughout  Anahuac.  They  were 
lodged  and  entertained  in  the  great  towns  at  the  public  charge, 
and  were  everywhere  received  with  courtesy,  so  long  as  they  did 
not  deviate  from  the  highroads  on  their  route.  When  lliey  did, 
they  forfeited  their  privileges.  If  the  embassy  proved  unsuccess- 
ful, a  defiance,  or  open  declaration  of  war,  was  sent  ;  quotas 
were  drawn  from  the  conquered  provinces,  which  were  always 
subjected  to  military  service,  as  well  as  the  payment  of  taxes  ; 


^  Torquemada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.   14,  cap.  i. 

The  same  wants  led  to  the  same  expedients  in  ancient  Rome,  and  still 
more  ancient  Persia.  "  Notliingin  the  world  is  borne  so  swiftly,"  says  Herod- 
otus, "  as  messages  by  the  Persian  couriers  "  ;  which  his  commentator,  Valck- 
cnaer,  prudently  qualifies  by  the  exception  of  the  carrier  pigeon.  (Herod- 
otus, Hist.,  Urania,  sec.  98,  nee  non  Adnot.  ed.  Schweighauser.)  Couriers 
are  noticed,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  in  China,  by  Marco  Polo.  Their 
Stations  were  only  three  miles  apart,  and  they  accomplished  five  days' journey 
in  one.  (Viaggi  di  Marco  Polo,  lib.  2,  cap.  20,  ap.  Ramusio,  torn.  II.)  A 
similar  arrangement  for  posts  subsists  there  at  the  present  day,  and  excites 
the  admiration  of  a  modern  traveller.  (Anderson,  British  Embassy  to  China, 
(London,  1796,)  p.  282.)  In  all  these  cases,  the  posts  were  for  the  use  of  gov- 
trnment  only. 

""Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nueva  Espafia,  lib.  3,  Apend.,cap.  3. 


MILITARY  INSTITUTION. 


55 


and  the  royal  army,  usually  with  the  monarch  at  its  head,  began 

its  march. ^ 

The  Aztec  princes  made  use  of  the  incentives  employed  by 
European  monarchs  to  excite  the  ambition  of  their  followers. 
They  established  various  military  orders,  each  having  its  privi- 
leges and  peculiar  insignia.  There  seems,  also,  to  have  existed 
a  sort  of  knighthood,  of  inferior  degree.  It  was  the  cheapest 
reward  of  martial  prowess,  and  whoever  had  not  reached  it 
was  excluded  from  using  ornaments  on  his  arms  or  his  person, 
and  obliged  to  wear  a  coarse  white  stuff,  made  from  the  threads 
of  the  aloe,  called  nequen.  Even  the  members  of  the  royal 
family  were  not  excepted  from  this  law,  which  reminds  one  of 
the  occasional  practice  of  Christian  knights,  to  wear  plain  armor, 
or  shields  without  device,  till  they  had  achieved  some  doughty 
feat  of  chivalry.  Although  the  military  orders  were  thrown  open 
to  all,  it  is  probable  that  they  were  chiefly  filled  with  persons  of 
rank,  who,  by  their  previous  training  and  connexions,  were  able 
to  come  into  the  field  under  peculiar  advantages.^ 

The  dress  of  the  higher  warriors  v^as  picturesque  and  often 
magnificent.  Their  bodies  were  covered  with  a  close  vest  of 
quilted  cotton,  so  thick  as  to  be  impenetrable  to  the  light  missiles 
of  Indian  warfare.  This  garment  was  so  light  and  serviceable, 
that  it  was  adopted  by  the  Spaniards.  The  wealthier  chiefs 
sometimes  wore,  instead  of  this  cotton  mail,  a  cuirass  made  of 
thin  plates  of  gold,  or  silver.  Over  it  was  thrown  a  surcoat  of 
the  gorgeous  featherwork  in  which  they  excelled.^^  Their  hel- 
mets were  sometimes  of  wood,  fashioned  like  the  heads  of  wild 
animals,  and  sometimes  of  silver,  on  the  top  of  which  waved  a 
panache  of  variegated   plumes,  sprinkled   with   precious  stones 

'^^  Zurita;  Rapport,  pp.  68,  120. — Col.  of  Mendoza,  ap.  Antiq.  of  Mexico,vol. 
I.  PI.  67;  vol.  VI.  p.  74. — Torquemada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  14,  cap.  i. 

The  reader  will  find  a  remarkable  resemblance  to  these  military  usages,  in 
those  of  the  early  Romans.  <Jomp.  Li\-.,  Hist.,  lib.  r,  caps.  32;  lib.  4,  cap.  ^,0, 
et  alibi. 

'^'  Ibid.,  lib.  14,  cap.  4,  5.  —  Acosta,  lib.  6,  ch .  26. — CoUec.  of  Mendoza,  ai>- 
Antiq.  of  Mexico,  vol.  i.  Pi.  6:;;  vol.  VI.  p.  72. — Camargo,  Mist,  de  Tlascala, 
MS 

36"  Their  mail  if  mail,  it  may  be  called,  was  woven 
Of  v.^eetaiile  dnsvi  ,  iikf  finest  flax, 
Bleached  to  the  whiteness  of  newfallen  snow. 
•         »*»«.**«» 
O'li'-rs,  of  lustier  nffice,  were  anaverl 
\'.i  feathery  biea-.t|.latr;s.  of  more  fzor^'eous  hue 
Thai:  tlie  cay  plumace  of  the  niountain-cock, 
Than  the  pheasant's  >;litteiinf^  jiride.     But  what  were  these. 
Or  what  thi:  tl-.in  f;old  liauberk.  when  opposed 
To  arms  liKe  ourb  in  battle  ?  '" 

Madoc,  p.  I.  cnnto  7. 

Beautiful  painting  !  One  mav  dnubt,  however,  the  propriety  of  the  Welsh« 
man's  vaunt,  before  the  use  of  fire-arms. 


^6  AZTEC  CIVILIZATIOl^. 

and  ornaments  of  gold      fhey  wore  also  collars,  bracelets,  and 

ear-rings,  of  the  san.'j  rich  materials.36 

Their  armies  were  divided  into  bodies  of  eight  thousand  men  ; 
and  these  again,  into  companies  of  three  or  four  hundred,  each 
with  its  own  commander.  The  national  standard,  which  has 
been  compared  to  the  ancient  Roman,  displayed,  in  its  eni- 
broidery  of  gold  and  feather-work,  the  armorial  ensigns  of  tlic 
state.  These  were  significant  of  its  name,  which,  as  the  names 
of  both  persons  and  places  were  borrowed  from  some  material 
object,  was  easily  expressed  by  hieroglyphical  symbols.  The 
companies  and  the  great  chiefs  had  also  their  appropriate  ban- 
ners and  devices,  and  the  gaudy  hues  of  their  many-colored 
plumes  gave  a  dazzling  splendor  to  the  spectacle. 

Their  tactics  were  such  as  belong  to  a  nation,  with  whom  war, 
though  a  trade,  is  not  elevated  to  the  rank  of  a  science.  They 
advanced  singing,  and  shouting  their  war-cries,  briskly  charging 
the  enemy,  as  rapidly  retreating,  and  making  use  of  ambuscades, 
sudden  surprises,  and  the  light  skirmish  of  guerilla  warfare.  Yet 
their  discipline  was  such  as  to  draw  forth  the  encomiums  of  the 
Spanish  conquerors.  '"  A  beautiful  sight  it  was,"  says  one  of 
them,  "  to  see  them  set  out  on  their  inarch,  all  moving  forward 
so  gayly,  and  in  so  admirable  order  !  ''^'  In  battle,  they  did  not 
seek  to  kill  their  enemies,  so  much  as  to  take  them  prisoners  ; 
and  they  never  scalped,  like  other  North  American  tribes.  The 
valor  of  a  warrior  was  estimated  by  the  number  of  his  prisoners  ; 
and  no  ransom  was  large  enough  to  save  the  devoted  captive.** 

Their  military  code  bore  the  same  stern  features  as  their  other 
laws.  Disobedience  of  orders  was  punished  with  death.  It  was 
death,  also,  for  a  soldier  to  leave  his  colors,  to  attack  the  enemy 
before  the  signal  was  given,  or  to  plunder  another's  booty  or  pris- 
oners.    One  of   the  last  Tezcucan  princes,  in  the  spirit  of  an 

^^'Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nueva  Espana,  lib.  2,  cap.  27  ;  lib.  8,  cap.  12..  Re- 
latione d'un  gentil'  huomo,  ap.  Ramusio,  torn.  III.  p.  305. — Torquemada, 
Monarch.  Ind.,  ubi  supra. 

■^"  Relatione  d'un  gentil'  huomo,  ubi  supra. 

^'  Col.  of  Mendoz;),  ap.  Antiq.  of  Mexico,  vol.  I.  PI.  65,  66;  vol.  VI.  p.  73, 
— Sahagun.  Hist,  de  Nueva  Espana,  lib.  8,  cap.  12. — Toribio,  Hist,  de  los 
Indios,  MS.,  Parte  I.  cap.  7. — Torquemada,  Monarch  Ind.,  lib.  14,  cap.  3 — 
Relatione  d'un  gentil'  huomo,  ap.  Ramusio,  loc.  cit. 

Scalping  may  claim  high  authoritv,  or,  at  least,  antiquity.  The  Father  of 
History  gives  an  account  of  it  among  the  Scvthians,  showing  that  they  per- 
formed the  operation,  and  wore  the  hideous  trophy,  in  the  same  manner  as 
our  North  American  Indians.  (Herodot.,  Hist.  Melpomene,  sec.  64.)  Traces 
of  the  same  savage  custom  are  also  found  in  the  laws  of  the  Visigoths,  among 
the  Franks,  and  even  the  Anglo-Saxons.  See  Guizot,  Cours  d'Histoir* 
Moderne,  (Paris,  1S29,)  torn.  I.  p.  283. 


MILITARY  INSTITUTIONS. 


57 


ancient  Roman,  put  two  sons  to  death, — after  having  cured  their 

wounds, — for  violating  the  last-mentioned  law.^ 

I  must  not  omit  to  notice  here  an  institution,  the  introduc- 
tion of  which,  in  the  Old  World,  is  ranked  among  the  beneficent 
fruits  of  Christianity.  Hospitals  were  established  in  the  prin- 
cipal cities,  for  the  cure  of  the  sick,  and  the  permanent  refuge 
of  the  disabled  soldiers  ;  and  surgeons  were  placed  over  them, 
*'  who  were  so  far  better  than  those  in  Europe,"  says  an  old 
chronicler,  '"  that  they  did  not  protract  the  cure,  in  order  to  in- 
crease the  pay."*^ 

Such  is  the  brief  outline  of  the  civil  and  military  polity  of  the 
ancient  Mexicans  ;  less  perfect  than  could  be  desired,  in  re- 
gard to  the  former,  from  the  imperfection  of  the  sources  whence 
it  is  drawn.  Whoever  has  had  occasion  to  explore  the  early 
history  of  modern  Europe  has  found  how  vague  and  unsatisfac- 
tory is  the  political  information  which  can  be  gleaned  from  the 
gossip  of  monkish  annalists.  How  much  is  the  dilBculty  in- 
creased in  the  present  instance,  where  this  information,  first 
recorded  in  the  dubious  language  of  hieroglyphics,  was  inter- 
preted in  another  language,  with  which  the  Spanish  chroniclers 
were  imperfectly  acquainted,  while  it  related  to  institutions  of 
which  their  past  experience  enabled  them  to  form  no  adequate 
conception  !  Amidst  such  uncertain  lights,  it  is  in  vain  to  ex- 
pect nice  accuracy  of  detail.  All  that  can  be  done  is,  to  at- 
tempt an  outline  of  the  more  prominent  features,  that  a  correct 
impression,  so  far  as  it  goes,  may  be  produced  on  the  mind  of 
the  reader. 

Enough  lias  been   said,  however,   to    show  that  the   ATrtec  and 
Tezcucan  races   were    advanced  in    civilization  very  far  beyond 
the  wandering  tribes  of   North  America.''     The  degree  of  civili- 
se Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich..  MS.,  cap.  67. 

*■' Torqucmacia,  Monarcli.  Incl.,  lib.  12,  cap.  6 ;  lib.  14,  cap.  3. — Ixtlilxo- 
chitl,  Hist   Chich,,  MS.,  cap.  36. 

*^  Zurita  is  indignant  at  the  e])ithet  of  barbarians  besto\vccl  on  the  Aztecs; 
an  epithet,  he  says,  "  wliich  coulci  come  from  no  one  who  had  personal  knowl- 
edge of  the  cajjacity  of  the  people,  or  their  institutions,  and  which,  in  some 
respects,  is  quite  as  well  merited  \)v  the  European  nations."  (!\apport.  p. 
200,  et  sefj.)  This  is  strong  language.  Yet  no  one  had  better  means  of 
knowing  tnan  thii  eminent  jurist,  who,  for  nineteen  years,  held  a  post  in  the 
royal  auilieiucs  of  New  Spain,  During  his  long  residence  in  the  country  lie 
had  ample  opportunity  of  acquainting  liimself  with  its  usages,  both  through 
his  own  personal  observation  and  iiuercourse  with  the  natives,  and  through 
the  first  missionaries  who  came  over  afier  tiic  Conc[uest.  On  his  return  to 
Spain,  probably  abnut  1560,  he  ocru])ied  himself  with  an  answer  to  queries 
which  have  been  pr< .pounded  by  the  government,  on  the  character  of  the 
Aztec  laws  and  institutions  and  on  that  of  the  modifications  introduced  b} 
the  Spaniards.  Mucli  of  his  treatise  is  taken  up  with  the  latter  subject.  In 
what  relates  to  the  former  he    is  more  brief  than   could  be   wished,  from  Lh« 


^8  AZTEC  CIVILIZATION. 

lation  which  they  had  reached,  as  inferred  by  their  political  in- 
stitutions, may  be  considered,  perhaps,  not  much  short  of  that 
enjoyed  by  our  Saxon  ancestors,  under  Alfred.  In  respect  to 
the  nature  of  it,  they  may  be  better  compared  with  the  Egyp- 
tians ;  and  the  examination  of  their  social  relations  and  culture 
may  suggest  still  stronger  points  of  resemblance  to  that  ancient 
people. 

Those  familiar  with  the  modern  Mexicans  will  find  it  difficult 
to  conceive  that  the  nation  should  ever  have  been  capable  of 
devising  the  enlightened  polity  which  we  have  been  considering. 
But  they  should  remember  that  in  the  Mexicans  of  our  day  they 
see  only  a  conquered  race  ;  as  different  from  their  ancestors  as 
are  the  modern  Egyptians  from  those  who  built, — I  will  not  say, 
the  tasteless  pyramids, — but  the  temples  and  palaces,  whose 
magnificent  wrecks  strew  the  borders  of  the  Nile,  at  Luxor  and 
Karnac.  The  difference  is  not  so  great  as  between  the  ancient 
Greek,  and  his  degenerate  descendant,  lounging  among  the 
master-pieces  of  art  which  he  has  scarcely  taste  enough  to  ad- 
mire,— speaking  the  language  of  those  still  more  imperishable 
monuments  of  literature  which  he  has  hardly  capacity  to  compre- 
hend. Yet  he  breathes  the  same  atmosphere,  is  warmed  by  the 
same  sun,  nourished  by  the  same  scenes,  as  those  who  fell  at 
Marathon,  and  won  the  trophies  of  Olympic  Pisa.  The  same 
blood  flows  in  his  veins  that  flowed  in  theirs.  But  ages  of  tyranny 
have  passed  over  him  ;  he  belongs  to  a  conquered  race. 

The  American  Indian  has  something  peculiarly  sensitive  in 
his  nature.  He  shrinks  instinctively  from  the  rude  touch  of  a 
foreign  hand.  Even  when  this  foreign  influence  comes  in  the 
form  of  civilization,  he  seems  to  sink  and  pine  away  beneath  it. 
It  has  been  so  with  the  Mexicans.  Under  the  Spanish  domina- 
tion, their  numbers  have  silently  melted  away.  Their  energies 
are  broken.  They  no  longer  tread  their  mountain  plains  with 
the  conscious  independence  of  their  ancestors.  In  their  falter- 
ing step,  and  meek  and  melancholy  aspect,  we  read  the  sad 
characters  of  the  conquered  race.  The  cause  of  humanity,  in- 
deed, has  gained.  They  live  under  a  better  system  of  laws,  a 
more  assured  tranquillity,  a  purer  faith.     But  all  does  not  avail. 

difficulty,  perhaps,  of  obtaining  full  and  satisfactory  information  as  to  the 
details.  As  far  as  he  goes,  however,  he  manifests  a  sound  and  discriminating 
judgment.  Tie  is  very  rarely  betrayed  into  the  extravagance  of  expression 
BO  visible  in  tli^  writers  of  the  time;  and  this  temperance,  combined  with  his 
uncommon  sources  of  information,  makes  his  work  one  of  highest  authority 
on  the  limited  topics  within  its  range. — The  original  manuscript  was  con- 
sulted by  Clavigero,  and,  indeed,  has  been  used  bv  other  writers.  The  work 
is  now  accessible  to  all,  as  one  of  the  series  of  translations  from  the  pen  of 
the  indefatigable  Ternaux. 


MILITARY  IXSTITUTIONS. 


59 


Their  civilization  was  of  the  hardy  character  which  belongs  to 
the  wilderness.  The  fierce  virtues  of  the  Aztec  were  all  his 
own.  They  refused  to  submit  to  European  culture, — to  be  en- 
grafted on  a  foreign  stock.  His  outward  form,  his  complexion, 
his  lineament,  are  substantially  the  same.  But  the  moral  char- 
acteristics of  the  nation,  all  that  constituted  its  individuality  as 
a  race,  are  effaced  forever. 


Two  of  the  principal  authorities  for  this  chapter  are  Torquemada  and  Clav 
igero.  The  former,  a  Provincial  of  the  Franciscan  order,  came  to  the  New 
World  about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century.  As  the  generation  of  the 
Conquerors  had  not  then  passed  away,  lie  had  ample  opportunities  of  gather- 
ing the  particulars  of  their  enterprise  from  their  own  lips.  Fifty  years,  dur- 
ing which  lie  continued  in  the  country,  put  him  in  possession  of  the  tradi- 
tions and  usages  of  the  natives,  and  enabled  him  to  collect  their  history  from 
the  earliest  missionaries,  as  well  as  from  such  monuments  as  the  fanaticism 
of  his  own  countrymen  had  not  then  destroyed.  From  these  ample  sources 
ke  compiled  his  bulky  tomes,  beginning,  after  the  approved  fashion  of  the 
ancient  Castilian  chroniclers,  with  the  creation  of  the  world,  and  embracing 
the  whole  circle  of  the  Mexican  institutions,  political,  religious,  and  social, 
from  the  earliest  period  to  his  own  time.  In  handling  these  fruitful  themes, 
the-  worthy  father  has  showi;  a  full  measure  of  the  bigotry  which  belonged  to 
his  order  at  that  period.  Every  page,  too,  is  loaded  with  illustrations  from 
Scripture  or  profane  history,  which  form  a  whimsical  contrast  to  the  barbaric 
staple  of  his  story  ;  and  he  has  sometimes  fallen  into  serious  errors,  from 
his  misconception  of  the  chronological  system  of  the  Aztecs.  Hut,  notwith- 
standing these  glaring  defects  in  the  comjjosition  of  the  work,  the  student, 
aware  of  his  author's  infirmities,  will  find  few  better  guides  than  Torquemada 
in  tracing  the  stream  of  historic  truth  up  to  the  fountain  head  ;  such  is  his 
manifest  integrity,  and  so  great  were  his  facilities  for  information  on  the 
most  curious  points  of  Mexican  antiquity.  No  work,  accordingly,  has  been 
more  largely  consulted  and  copied,  even  by  some,  who,  like  Ilerrera,  have 
affected  to  set  little  value  on  the  sources  whence  its  information  was  drawn, 
— (Hist.  Genera],  dec.  6,  lib.  6,  cap,  19.)  The  Monarchta  InJtaiia  was  first 
published  at  Seville,  161 5,  (Nic  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  Nova,  (Matriti,  1783,) 
torn.  II.  p.  787,)  and  since,  in  a  better  style,  in  three  volumes  folio,  at  Madrid, 
in  1723. 

The  other  authority,  fretjuently  cited  in  the  preceding  pages,  is  the  Abbe 
Clavigero's  Storia  Antica  del  Messico.  It  was  originally  printed  towards  the 
close  of  the  last  centery,  in  the  Italian  language,  and  in  Italy,  whither  the 
author,  a  native  of  Vera  Cruz,  and  a  member  of  the  order  of  the  Jesuits,  had 
retired,  on  the  exinilsion  of  that  body  from  America,  in  1767.  Daring  a  re- 
sidence of  thirty-five  years  in  his  own  country,  Clavigero  had  made  himself 
intimately  acquainted  with  its  antiquities,  by  the  careful  examination  of  paint- 
ings, manuscripts,  and  such  other  remains  as  were  Ut  be  found  in  his  day. 
The  plan  of  his  work  is  nearly  as  comprehensive  as  that  of  his  predecessor, 
Torquemada  ;  but  the  later  and  more  cultivated  period,  in  which  he  wrote, 
is  visible  in  the  superior  address  with  which  he  has  managed  his  com])]icated 
subject.  In  the  elaborate  dis<|uisitions  in  his  concluding  volume,  hehasdiine 
much  to  rectify  the  chronology,  and  the  various  inaccuracies  of  prerrtling 
writers.  Indeed,  an  avowed  object  of  his  work  was,  to  vindicate  his  cauntry- 
men  from   what  he  conceived  to  be  the  misrepresentations  of   Robertson 


4^  AZTEC  CIVILIZATION. 

Raynal,  and  De  Pau.     In  regard  to  the  last  two,  he  was  perfectly  successful. 

Such  an  ostensible  design  might  naturally  suggest  unfavorable  ideas  of  his 
impartiality.  But,  on  the  whole,  he  seems  to  have  conducted  the  discussion 
with  good  faith  ;  and,  if  he  has  been  led  by  national  zeal  to  overcharge  the 
picture  with  brilliant  colors,  he  will  be  found  much  more  temperate,  on  this 
score,  than  those  who  preceded  him,  while  he  has  applied  sound  principles 
of  criticism,  of  which  they  were  incapable.  In  a  word,  the  diligence  of  his 
researches  has  gathered  into  one  focus  the  scattered  lights  of  tradition  and 
antiquarian  lore,  purified  in  a  great  measure  from  the  mists  of  superstition 
which  obscure  the  best  productions  of  an  earlier  period.  From  these  causes, 
the  work,  notwithstanding  its  occasional  prolixity,  and  the  disagreeable  aspect 
given  to  it  by  the  profusion  of  uncouth  names  in  the  Mexican  orthography, 
which  bristle  over  every  page,  has  found  merited  favor  with  the  public,  and 
created  something  like  a  popular  interest  in  the  subject.  Soon  after  its  pub- 
lication at  Cesena,  in  1780,  it  was  translated  into  English,  and  mor-  lately, 
into  Spanish  and  German'< 


iaifXiCAN  MYTHOLOGY,  6i 


CHAPTER  III. 

Mexican   Mythology. — The   Sacerdotal    Order. — The 
Temples. — Human  Sacrifices. 

The  civil  polity  of  the  Aztecs  is  so  closely  blended  with  their 
religion,  that,  without  understanding  the  latter,  it  is  impossible 
to  form  correct  ideas  of  their  government  or  their  social  institu- 
tions. I  shall  pass  over,  for  the  present,  some  remarkable  tradi- 
tions, bearing  a  singular  resemblance  to  those  found  in  the 
Scriptures,  and  endeavor  to  give  a  brief  sketch  of  their  mythol- 
ogy, and  their  careful  provisions  for  maintaining  a  national 
worship. 

Mythology  may  be  regarded  as  the  poetry  of  religion, — or 
rather  as  the  pootic  de\elopment  of  the  religious  principles  in  a 
primitive  age.  It  is  the  effort  of  untutored  man  to  explain  the 
mysteries  of  existence,  and  the  secret  agencies  by  which  the 
operations  of  nature  are  conducted.  Although  the  growth  of 
similar  conditions  of  society,  its  character  must  vary  with  that  of 
the  rude  tribes  in  which  it  originates  ;  and  the  ferocious  Goth, 
quai^ng  mead  from  the  skulls  of  his  slaughtered  enemies,  must 
have  a  very  different  mythology  from  that  of  the  effeminate 
native  of  Hispaniola,  loitering  away  his  hours  in  idle  pastimes, 
under  the  shadow  of  his  bananas. 

At  a  later  and  more  refined  period,  we  sometimes  find  these 
primitive  legends  combined  into  a  regular  system  under  the 
hands  of  the  poet,  and  the  rude  outline  moulded  into  forms  of 
ideal  beauty,  which  are  the  objects  of  adoration  in  a  credulous 
age,  and  the  delight  of  all  succeeding  ones.  Such  were  the  beau- 
tiful inventions  of  Hesiod  and  Homer,  "  who,"  says  the  Father  of 
History,  "  created  the  theogony  of  the  Greeks  ";  an  assertion 
not  to  be  taken  too  literally,  since  !t  is  hardly  possible  that  any 
man  should  create  a  religious  system  for  his  nation.^  They 
only  filled  up  the  shadowy  outlines  of  tradition  w^ilh  the  bright 
touches  of  their  own   imaginations,  until    they  had  clothed  them 

*xot^(7avT«r  OmyiyrbiV  "EM.tj^i  Herodotus,  Euterpe,  sec.  53. — Ileeren  haza- 
rds a  remark  equally  strong,  respecting  the  epic  poets  of  India,  *'  who," 
•ays  he,  "  liave  supi)lied  the  numerous  gods  that  fill  her  Pantheon."  Hi»- 
torical  Rebearches,  Eng.  trans.,  {(Jxford,  1833,)  vol.  III.  p.  139. 


g^  AZTEC  CIVILIZATiON 

in    beauty  which  kindled  the  imaginations  of  others.    The  powof 

of  the  poei,  indeed,  may  be  felt  in  a  similar  way  in  a  much 
riper  period  of  society.  To  say  nothing  of  the  "  Divina  Corn- 
media,"  wlio  is  there  that  rises  from  the  perusal  of  "  Paradise 
Lost,"  without  feeling  his  own  conceptions  of  the  angelic  hier- 
archy quickened  by  those  of  the  inspired  artist,  and  a  new  and 
sensible  form,  as  it  were,  given  to  images  which  had  before 
floated  dim  and  undefined  before  him  ? 

The  last-mentioned  period  is  succeeded  by  that  of  philosophy  ; 
which,  disclaiming  alike  the  legends  of  the  primitive  age,  and 
the  poetical  embellishments  of  the  succeeding  one,  seeks  to 
shelter  itself  from  the  charge  of  impiety  by  giving  an  allegorical 
interpretation  to  the  popular  mytholog)',  and  thus  to  reconcile 
the  latter  with  the  genuine  deductions  of  science. 

The  Mexican  religion  had  emerged  from  the  first  of  the 
periods  we  have  been  considering,  and,  although  little  affected 
by  poetical  influences,  had  received  a  peculiar  complexion  from 
the  priests,  who  had  digested  as  thorough  and  burdensome  a 
ceremonial,  as  ever  existed  in  any  nation.  They  had,  moreover, 
thrown  the  veil  of  allegory  over  early  tradition,  and  invested 
their  deities  with  attributes,  savoring  much  more  of  the  grotesque 
conceptions  of  the  eastern  nations  in  the  Old  World,  than  of  the 
lighter  fictions  of  Greek  mythology,  in  which  the  features  of 
humanity,  however  exaggerated,  were  ne\er  wholly  abandoned.* 

In  contemplating  the  religious  system  of  the  Aztecs,  oi>€  is 
struck  with  its  apparent  incongruity,  as  if  some  portion  of  it  had 
emanated  from  a  comparatively  refined  people,  open  to  gentle 
influences,  while  the  rest  breathes  a  spirit  of  unmitigated  feroc- 
ity. It  naturally  suggests  the  idea  of  two  distinct  sources,  and 
authorizes  the  belief  that  the  Aztecs  had  inherited  from  their 
predecessors  a  milder  faith,  on  which  was  afterwards  engrafted 
their  own  mythology.  The  latter  soon  became  dominant,  and 
gave  its  dark  coloring  to  the  creeds  of  the  conquered  nations, 
— which  the  Mexicans,  like  the  ancient  R.omans,  seem  willingly 
to  have  incorporated  into  their  own, — until  the  same  funereal 
superstitions  settled  over  the  farthest  borders  of  Anahuac. 

The  Aztecs  recognized  the  existence  of  a  supreme  Creator 
and  Lord  of  the  universe.  They  addressed  him  in  their  prayers 
af   '■  the  God  by  whom  we  live,"    '"  omnipresent,  that  knoweth 

-The  lion.  .Moum-tuart  Elphinstone  has  fallen  into  a  similar  train  c\ 
thought,  ii!  a  coniyjarison  of  die  Hindoo  and  Greek  Mythology,  in  his  *'  His- 
tory of  India.''  puljli.-^hed  since  the  remarks  in  the  text  were  written.  {See 
Book  I.  ch.  4.)  The  same  chapter  of  this  truly  philosophic  work  suggests 
some  curious  points  of  resenibiance  to  the  Aztec  religious  institutions,  that 
may  furnish  pertinent  illustrations  to  the  mind  bent  on  tracing  the  affinitiOi 
of  the  Asiatic  and  American  races 


MEXICAN  MYTHOLOGY 


6S 


■11  thoughts,  and  giveth  all  gifts,"  "  without  whom  man  is  as 
nothing,"  *'  invisible,  incorporeal,  one  God,  oi  perfect  perfection 
and  purity,"  ''  under  whose  wings  we  find  repose  and  a  sure  de- 
fence." These  sublime  attributes  infer  no  inadequate  concep- 
tion of  the  true  God.  But  the  idea  of  unity — of  a  being,  with 
whom  volition  is  action,  who  has  no  need  of  inferior  ministers 
to  execute  his  purposes — was  too  simple  or  too  vast,  for  their 
understandings  ;  and  they  sought  relief,  as  usual,  in  a  plurality 
of  deities,  who  presided  over  the  elements,  the  changes  of  the 
seasons,  and  the  various  occupations  of  man.^  Of  these,  there 
were  thirteen  principal  deities,  and  more  than  two  hundred  in- 
ferior ;  to  each  of  whom  some  special  day,  or  appropriate  festi- 
val, was  consecrated.^ 

At  the  head  of  all  stood  the  terrible  Huitzilopotchli,  the 
Mexican  Mars  ;  although  it  is  doing  injustice  to  the  heroic  war- 
god  of  antiquity  to  identify  him  with  this  sanguinary  monster. 
This  was  the  patron  deity  of  the  nation.  His  fantastic  image 
was  loaded  with  costly  ornaments.  His  temples  were  the  most 
stately  and  august  of  the  public  edifices  ;  and  his  altars  reeked 
with  the  blood  of  human  hecatombs  in  every  city  of  the  empire. 
Disastrous,  indeed,  must  have  been  the  influence  of  such  a  su- 
perstition on  the  character  of  the  people.5 

^  Ritter  has  well  shown,  by  the  example  of  the  Hindoo  system,  how  the 
idea  of  unity  suggests,  of  itself,  that  of  plurality.  History  of  Ancient  phil- 
osophy, Eng.  trans.,  (Oxford,  1838,)  book  2,  ch.  i. 

*  Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nueva  Espaiia,  lib.  6,  passim. — Acosta,  lib.  5,  ch.  9. 
— Boturini,  Idea,  p.  8,  et  seq. — Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich..  MS.,  cap.  i — 
Camargo,  Hist,  de  Tlascala,  MS. 

The  Mexicans,  according  to  Clavigero,  believed  in  an  evil  Spirit,  the  ene- 
my of  the  human  race,  whose  barbarous  name  signified  "  Rationai  Owl." 
iStor.  del.  Messico,  torn.  H.  p.  2.)  The  curate  Bernaldez  speaks  of  the 
)evil  being  embroidered  on  the  dresses  of  Columbus's  Indians,  in  the  like- 
ness of  an  owl.  (Historia  de  los  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  131.)  This 
must  not  be  confounded,  however,  with  the  evil  Spirit  in  the  mythology  oi 
the  North  American  Indians,  (See  Heckewelder's  account,  ap.  Transactions 
of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  Philadelphia,  vol.  I.  p.  205.)  still  less 
with  the  evil  Principle  of  the  Oriental  nations  of  the  Old  World.  It  was 
only  one  among  many  deities,  for  evil  was  found  too  liberally  mingled  in  the 
natures  of  most  of  the  Aztec  gods, — in  the  same  manner  as  with  the  Greek, 
to  admit  of  its  personification  by  any  one. 

*  Sagahun,  Hist,  de  Nucva  Espaiia,  lib.  3,  cap.  i,  et  seq.  —  Acosta,  lib.  5, 
eh.  9. — Torquemada,  Monarch.  Ind..  lib.  6.  cap.  21. — Botiirini,  Idea,  pp. 
«7,  28. 

Huitzilopotchli  is  compounded  of  two  words,  signifying  "  humming-bird." 
and  "  left,"  from  his  image  having  the  feathers  of  this  bird  on  its  left  foot; 
(Clavigero,  Stor.  del  Messico.  torn.  II.  p.  17;)  an  amiable  etymology  for  so 
ruffian  a  deity. — The  fanta-tic  forms  of  the  Mexican  idols  were  in  the  highest 
degree  symbolical.  See  Oania's  learned  ex]50sition  of  the  devices  on  the 
statue  of  the  goddess  found  in  the  great  square  of  Mexico.     (Descripcion   de 


^4  AZTFC  Cn'lLIZATION. 

A  far  more    int'^.res'^lug  personage  in   their   mythology  was 

Quetzalcoatl,  god  of  the  air,  a  divinity  who,  during  his  residence 
on  earth,  instructed  the  natives  in  the  use  of  meials,  in  agricul- 
ture, and  in  the  arts  of  government.  He  was  one  of  those  ben- 
efactors of  their  species,  doubtless,  who  have  been  deified  by  the 
gratitude  of  posterity.  Under  him,  the  earth  teemed  with  fruits 
and  flowers,  v.'ithoui  the  pains  of  culture.  An  ear  of  Indian  corn 
was  as  m'j.ch  as  a  single  man  could  carry.  The  cotton,  as  it 
grew,  took,  of  its  own  accord,  the  rich  dyes  of  human  art.  The 
air  was  filled  with  intoxicating  perfumes  and  the  sweet  melody 
of  birds,  in  short,  these  were  the  halcyon  days,  which  find  a 
place  in  the  mythic  systems  of  so  many  nations  in  the  Oid 
World.     It  was  the  go/dcn  age  of  Anahuac, 

From  some  cause,  not  explained,  Quetzalcoatl  incurred  the 
wratli  of  one  of  the  principal  gods,  and  was  compelled  to  abandon 
the  country.  On  his  way,  he  stopped  at  tlie  city  of  Cholula, 
where  a  temple  was  dedicated  to  his  worship,  the  massy  ruins 
of  which  still  form  one  of  the  most  interesting  relics  of  antiquity 
in  Mexico.  When  he  reached  the  shores  of  the  Mexican  Gulf, 
he  took  leave  of  his  followers,  promising  that  he  and  his  de- 
scendants would  revisit  them  hereafter,  and  then,  entering  his 
wizard  skiff,  made  of  serpents'  skins  embarked  on  the  great 
ocean  for  the  fabled  land  of  Tlapallan.  He  was  said  to  have 
been  tall  in  stature,  with  a  white  skin,  long,  dark  hair,  and  a 
flowing  beard.  The  Mexicans  looked  confidently  to  the  return 
of  the  benevolent  diety;  and  this  remarkable  tradition,  deeply 
cherished  in  their  hearts,  prepared  the  way,  as  we  shall  see 
hereafter,  for  the  future  success  of  the  Spaniards.^ 

las  Dos  Piedras,  (Mexico,  1832,)  Parte  i,  pp.  34-44  )  The  tradition  respect- 
ing the  origin  of  tiiis  god,  or,  at  least,  his  appearance  on  earth,  is  curious. 
He  was  born  of  a  woman.  Hi.-  mother,  a  devout  person,  one  day,  in  her  at- 
tendance on  the  temple,  saw  a  ball  of  bright-colored  feathers  floating  in  the 
air.  She  took  it,  and  deposited  it  in  her  bosom.  .She  soon  after  found  her- 
self pregnant,  and  the  dread  deity  was  born,  coming  into  the  world,  like 
Minerva,  all  armed, — with  a  spear  in  the  right  hand,  a  shield  in  the  left,  and 
his  head  surmounted  by  a  crest  of  green  plumes.  (See  Clavigero.  Stor.  del 
Messico,  tom.  \l.  p.  19,  et  seq.)  A  similar  notion  in  respect  to  the  incarna- 
tion of  their  principal  deity  existed  among  the  people  of  India  beyond  the 
Ganges,  of  China,  and  of  Thibet.  "  ]!udh,"says  Milman,  in  his  learned  and 
luminous  work  on  the  History  of  Christianity.  *'  according  to  a  tradition 
known  in  tlii;  West,  was  born  of  a  virgin.  So  were  the  Fohi  of  China,  and 
the  Schakaof  of  'Jliibci.  no  doubt  the  same,  whether  a  mythic  or  a  reaJ  per- 
sonag'j.  The  Jesuits  in  China,  says  Barrow,  were  appalled  at  finding  in  the 
mythology  of  that  country  the  counterpart  of  the  Virgo  Deipara."  (Vol.  I. 
p.  99.  note.  The  existence  of  similar  religious  ideas  in  remote  regions,  in- 
habited  by  different  races,  is  an  interesting  subject  of  study;  furnishing,  as 
it  does,  one  of  the  most  important  links  in  the  great  chain  of  communication 
which  binds  togcthtr  the  distant  fnmilie'  of  nations. 

^  Codex  Vaticanus,    PI.   15,  anzt  Codex  Teilexiano-Remensis,  Part  2.  Pi 


MEXICAiV  MYTHOLOGY.  5« 

We  have  not  space  for  further  details  respecting  the  Mexican 
divinities,  the  attributes  of  many  of  whom  were  carefully  de- 
fined, as  they  descended,  in  regular  gradation,  to  the  fenaUs  or 
household  gods,  whose  little  images  were  to  be  found  in  the 
humblest  dwelling. 

The  Aztecs  felt  the  curiosity,  common  to  man  in  almost  every 
stage  of  civilization,  to  lift  the  veil  which  covers  the  mysterious 
past,  and  the  more  awful  future.  They  sought  relief,  like  the 
nations  of  the  Old  Continent,  from  the  oppressive  idea  of 
eternity,  by  breaking  it  up  into  distinct  cycles,  or  periods  of 
time,  each  of  several  thousand  years'  duration,  There  were 
four  of  these  cycles,  and  at  the  end  of  each,  by  the  agency  of 
one  of  the  elements,  the  human  family  was  swept  from  the  earth 
and  the  sun  blotted  out  from  the  heavens,  to  be  again  rekindled.7 

They  imagined  three  separate  states  of  existence  in  the  future 
life.     The  wicked,  comprehending  the  greater  part  of  mankind, 

2.  ap.  Antiq  of  Mexico,  vols.  I..  VI. — Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nueva  Espana, 
lib.  3,  cap.  3,  4,  13,  14. — Torquemada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  6,  cap.  24. — 
Ixtlil.Kochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  i. — Gomara,  Cronica  de  la  Nueva 
Espana,  cap.  222,  ap.  Barcia,  Historiadores  Primitivos  de  las  Indias  Occiden- 
tales,  (Madrid,  1749,)  torn  II. 

Quetzalcoad  signifies  "  feathered  serpent."  The  last  syllable  means,  like- 
wise, a  "twin  ";  which  furnished  an  argument  for  Dr.  Siguen;ca  to  identify 
this  god  with  the  apostle  Thomas,  (Didymus  signifying  also  a  twin,)  who,  he 
supposes,  came  over  to  America  to  preach  the  Gospel.  In  this  rather  start- 
ling conjecture  he  is  supported  by  several  of  his  devout  countrvmen,  who 
appear  to  have  as  little  doubt  of  the  fact  as  of  the  advent  of  St.  James,  for  a 
similar  purpose,  in  the  mother  country.  See  the  various  authorities  and 
arguments  set  forth  with  becoming  gravity  in  Dr.  Mier's  dissertation  in  Busta- 
mantc's  edition  of  Sahagun,  (lib.  3,  Suplem.,)  and  Veytia,  (torn.  I.  pp.  160- 
200.)  Chir  ingenious  cfiuntryman,  McCulloh,  carries  the  Aztec  god  up  to  a 
still  more  respectable  antiquity,  by  identifying  iiim  with  the  patriarch  Noah. 
Researches,  Philosophical  and  Antiquarian,  concerning  the  Aboriginal 
History  of  America,  (Baltimore,  1829,)  p.  233. 

'Cod.  Vat.,  PI  7-10,  ap.  Antiq.  of  Me.xico,  vols.  I.,  VI. — I.^ctlilxochitl, 
Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  i. 

M  de  Humboldt  has  been  at  some  pains  to  trace  the  analogy  between  the 
Aztec  cosmogony  and  that  of  h^astern  Asia.  He  has  tried,  though  in  vain, 
to  find  a  multi[)!e  which  might  serve  as  the  key  to  the  calculations  of  the 
former.  (Vues  des  CordillDres,  pp.  202-212.)  In  truth,  there  seems  to  be 
a  material  discordance  in  the  Mexican  statements,  boih  in  regard  to  the  num- 
ber of  revolutions  and  their  duration.  A  manuscript  before  ine,  of  Ixtlilxo- 
ch'tl.  reduces  them  to  three,  before  the  present  state  of  the  workl,  and  allows 
only  4394  years  for  them;  (Sumaria  Kelacioii,  MS.,  No.  i;)  Gania,  on  the 
faith  of  an  ancient  Indian  MS.,  in  Boturini's  ('atalogue,  (VIH.  13,)  reduces 
the  duration  still  lower;  (Descripcion  de  las  Dos  Picdras,  Parte  i,  p.  49,  et 
etq. ;)  while  the  cycles  of  the  Vatican  paintings  take  up  near  18,000  years. — 
It  is  interesting  to  ob-x-rve  how  the  wild  ronjectiti-es  of  an  ignorant  age  have 
been  confirmed  by  the  more  recent  (liuin>eries  in  geology,  making  it  probable 
that  the  earth  has  expcrienccfi  a  number  of  convulsions,  jiossibly  thousands 
of  jears  distant  from  eacii  other,  which  have  swept  away  the  races  then  ex- 
isting, and  yiven  a  new  aspect  to  the  xlobe. 


^  AZTEC  civilization: 

were  to  expiate  their  sins  in  a  place  of  everlasting  darknesat 
Another  class,  with  no  other  merit  than  that  of  having  died  of 
certain  diseases,  capriciously  selected,  were  to  enjoy  a  negative 
existence  of  indolent  contentment.  The  highest  place  was  re- 
served, as  in  most  warlike  nations,  for  the  heroes  who  fell  in  battle, 
or  in  sacrifice.  They  passed,  at  once,  into  the  presence  of  the 
Sun,  whom  they  accompanied  with  songs  and  choral  dances,  in  his 
bright  progress  through  the  heavens  ;  and,  after  some  years, 
their  spirits  went  to  animate  the  clouds  and  singing  birds  of 
beautiful  plumage,  and  to  revel  amidst  the  rich  blossoms  and 
odors  of  the  gardens  of  paradise.^  Such  was  the  heaven  of  the 
Aztecs  ;  more  refined  in  its  character  than  that  of  the  more 
polished  pagan,  whose  elysium  reflected  only  the  martial  sports, 
or  sensual  gratifications,  of  this  life.®  In  the  destiny  they 
assigned  to  the  wicked,  we  discern  similar  traces  of  refinement ; 
since  the  absence  of  all  physical  torture  forms  a  striking  con- 
trast to  the  schemes  of  suffering  so  ingeniously  devised  by  the 
fancies  of  the  most  enlightened  nations. ^'^  In  all  this,  so  con- 
trary to  the  natural  suggestions  of  the  ferocious  Aztec,  we  see 
the  evidences  of  a  higher  civilization,  inherited  from  their  pre- 
decessors in  the  land. 

Our  limits  will  allow  only  a  brief  allusion  to  one  or  two  of 
their  most  interesting  ceremonies.  On  the  death  of  a  person, 
his  corpse  was  dressed  in  the  peculiar  habiliments  of  his  tutelar 

^  .Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Xueva  Espana  ,  lib.  3,  Apend. — Cod.  Vat,  ap. 
Antic[.  of  Mexico,  PI.  1-5. — Torquemada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  13,  cap  48. 

The  last  writer  assures  us,  ''  that  as  to  what  the  Aztecs  said  of  their  going 
to  hell,  they  were  right;  for  as  they  died  in  ignorance  of  the  true  faith,  they 
have,  without  question,  all  gone  there  to  suffer  everlasting  punishment"! 
Ubi  supra. 

^  It  conveys  but  a  poor  idea  of  these  ]jleasures,  that  the  shade  of  Achilles 
can  say,  "  he  had  rather  be  the  slave  of  the  meanest  man  on  earth,  than  sov- 
ereign among  the  dead."  (Odyss.  A.  488-490.)  The  Mahometans  believe 
that  the  souls  of  martyrs  pass,  after  death,  into  the  bodies  of  birds,  that  haunt 
the  sweet  waters  and  bowers  of  Paradise.  (Sale's  Koran,  (London,  1825,) 
vol.  I.  p.  106.) — The  Mexican  heaven  mav  remind  one  of  Dante's,  in  its  wia- 
Urial  enjoyments;  which,  in  both,  are  made  up  of  light,  music,  and  motion. 
The  sun,  it  must  also  be  remembered,  was  a  spiritual  conception  with  the 
Aztec : 

''  He  sees  with  other  eyes  thar.  theirs  ;    where  they 
Behold  a  sun,  he  sjiies  a  deity." 

^  It  is  singular  that  the  Tuscan  bard,  while  exhausting  his  invention  in 
devising  modes  of  bodily  torture,  in  his  '"  Inferno,"  should  have  made  so 
little  use  of  the  moral  sources  of  misery.  That  he  has  not  done  so  might  be 
reckoned  a  strong  proof  of  the  rudeness  of  the  time,  did  w:  not  meet  with 
examples  of  it  in  our  own  dav  ;  in  which  a  serious  and  Sublime  writer,  like 
Dr.  Watts,  does  not  disdain  tn  employ  the  same  coarse  machinery  for  mov 
ing  the  conscience  of  the  reader 


SACERDOTAL  ORDER.  5y 

dfcity.  It  was  strewed  with  pieces  of  paper,  which  operated  as 
charms  against  the  dangers  of  the  dark  road  he  was  to  travel. 
A  throng  of  slaves,  if  he  were  rich,  was  sacrificed  at  his  obse- 
quies. His  body  was  burned,  and  the  ashes,  collected  in  a  vase, 
were  preserved  in  one  of  the  apartments  of  his  house.  Here 
we  have  successively  the  usages  of  the  Roman  Catholic,  the 
Mussulman,  the  Tartar,  and  the  Ancient  Greek  and  Roman ; 
curious  coincidences,  which  may  show  how  cautious  we  should 
be  in  adopting  conclusions  founded  on  analogy.^ 

A  more  extraordinary  coincidence  may  be  traced  with  Chris- 
tian rites,  in  the  ceremony  of  naming  their  children.  The  hps 
and  bosom  of  the  infant  were  sprinkled  with  water,  and  "  the 
Lord  was  implored  to  permit  the  holy  drops  to  wash  away  the 
sin  that  was  given  to  it  before  the  foundation  of  the  world  ;  so 
that  the  child  might  be  born  anew.""  We  are  reminded  of 
Christian  morals,  in  more  than  one  of  their  prayers,  in  which 
they  used  regular  forms.  "  Wilt  thou  blot  us  out.  O  Lord,  fo? 
tv^xl  Is  this  punishment  intended,  not  for  our  reformation, 
but  for  our  destruction  ? "  Again,  "  Impart  to  us,  out  of  thy 
great  mercy,  thy  gifts,  which  we  are  not  worthy  to  receive 
through  our  own  merits."  ''  Keep  peace  with  all,"  says  another 
petition  ;  "  bear  injuries  with  humility  ;  God,  who  sees,  will 
avenge  you."  But  the  most  striking  parallel  with  Scripture  is  in 
the  remarkable  declaration,  that  "  he,  who  looks  too  curiously 
on  a  woman,  commits  adultery  with  his  eyes."  These  pure  and 
elevated  maxims,  it  is  true,  are  mixed  up  with  othere  of  a  pue- 
rile, and  even  brutal  character,  arguing  thnt  confusion  of  the 
moral  perceptions,  which  is  natural  in  the  twiligiiL  of  civilization. 
One  would  not  expect,  however,  to  meet,  in  such  a  state  of  so- 
ciety, with  doctrines  as  sublime  as  any  inculcated  by  the  enlight- 
ened codes  of  ancient  philosophy." 

"  Carta  del  \\c.    Zuazo,  (Nov.,  1521,)   MS. — Acosta,  lib.  5,  cap.  8. — Tor- 

qutjmada.  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  13,  cap.  45 — Sahagun,  Ilist.de  Nt;eva  Espaiaa. 
'ib.  3,  Apend. 

."^omeiitnes  the  body  was  buried  entire,  with  valuable  treasures,  if  the 
def.easc'i  was  rich.  The  "  Anonymous  Contiueror,"  as  he  is  called,  saw  gold 
to  the  value  of  3000  castellanos  drawn  from  one  of  these  tombs.  Relatione  cf 
uti  L'entil'  huomo,  ap.  Ramiisio,  torn.  III.  p.  310. 

'-  This   interesrin;',    rite,  usually  s<j:eir.nized    wiLh    rrc  ii    fo.-inality,    in   the 

presence  of  the  assemViicd  friends    and  relatives,  is    drt.iiled  with  minuteness 

■•  Sahai^uii,  (Hist,  de  Nueva  Esjiana,  lib.  6,  cap.  37.)  and  by  Zuazo,  (Carta, 

:»IS.,)  both  of  them  e\ewitncsses.    Fcir  a  version  of  part  of  Saiiagun's  account, 

see  A  '•/'fndix,  Part  /,  note  26. 

'^  ";  l"'.s  possible,  fjue  esteazote  y  este  castigo  no  se  nos  da  para  nuestra 
rorreccion  v  enmienda,  sino  para  tot.il  destruccion  y  asolamiento  ?"  (Saha- 
gun, Hist,  de  Nueva  P^spafia  lib,  6,  cap.  i.)  ''  Y  esto  por  sola  vuestra  lilx^rali- 
dad  y  magnificencia  lo  habeis  de  h.^ccr,  que  ninguno  es   digno  ni    merecedoT 


^8  AZTEC  CIVILIZ AT/OX. 

But,  although  the  Aztec  mythology  gathered  nothing  from 
the  beautiful  inventions  of  the  poet,  nor  from  the  refinements  of 
philosophy,  it  was  much  indebted,  as  I  have  noticed,  to  the 
priests,  who  endeavored  to  dazzle  the  imagination  of  the  people 
by  the  most  formal  and  pompous  ceremonial.  The  influence  of 
the  priesthood  must  be  greatest  in  an  imperfect  state  of  civiliza- 
tion, where  it  engrosses  all  the  scanty  science  of  the  time  in  its 
own  body.  This  is  particularly  the  case,  when  the  science  is  of 
that  spurious  kind  which  is  less  occupied  with  the  real  phenom- 
ena of  nature,  than  with  the  fanciful  chimeras  of  human  super- 
stition. Such  are  the  sciences  of  astrology  and  divination,  in 
which  the  Aztec  priests  were  well  initiated  ;  and,  while  they 
seemed  to  hold  the  keys  of  the  future  in  their  own  hands,  they 
impressed  the  ignorant  people  with  sentiments  of  superstitious 
awe,  beyond  that  which  has  probably  existed  in  any  other  coun- 
try,— even  in  ancient  Egypt. 

The  sacerdotal  order  was  very  numerous  ;  as  may  be  inferred 
from  the  statement,  that  five  thousand  priests  were,  in  some  way 
or  other,  attached  to  the  principal  temple  in  the  capital.  The 
various  ranks  and  functions  of  this  multitudinous  body  were  dis- 
criminated with  great  exactness.  Those  best  instructed  in  music 
took  the  management  of  the  choirs.  Others  arranged  the  festivals 
conformably  to  the  calendar.  Some  superintended  the  educa- 
tion of  youth,  and  others  had  charge  of  the  hieroglyphical  paint- 
ings  and  oral  traditions ;  while  the  dismal  rites  of  sacrifice  were 
reserved  for  the  chief  dignitaries  of  the  order.  At  the  head  of 
the  whole  establishment  were  two  high-priests,  elected  from  the 
order,  as  it  would  seem,  by  the  king  and  principal  nobles,  with- 
out reference  to  birth,  but'  solely  for  their  qualifications,  as 
shown  by  their  previous  conduct  in  a  subordinate  station.  They 
were  equal  in  dignity,  and  inferior  only  to  the  sovereign,  who 
rarely  acted  without  their  advice  in  weighty  matters  oi  public 
concern.-^* 

de  recibir  vuestras  larguezas  por  su  dignidad   y  merecimiento,  sino  qae  por 

Tuestra  benignidad."  (Ibid.,  lib.  6,  cap.  2.)  "  Sed  sufridos  y  reportados, 
que  Dios  bien  os  ve  y  respondcra  por  vosotros,  v  el  os  vcngara  (a)  sed 
humildescon  todos  yconestodos  haraDios  merced  y  tambien  honra."  (Ibid., 
lib.  6,  cap.  17.)  "  Tampoco  mires  con  curiosidad  ei  gesto  y  disposicion  de  la 
gente    principal,  mayormente    de  las  nmgeres,  y   sobre  todo   de  las  casadas, 

f)orc^ue  dice  el  refran    que  e'l  que  curiosamente  mira  a  la  muger   adultera  con 
a  vista."     (Ibid.,  lib.  6,  cap.  22.) 

'*  Sahagnn,  Hist,  de  Nneva  ICspana,  lib.  2.  Apend  ,  lib.  3.  cap.  9. — Tor- 
quemada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib,  S,  cap.  20;  lib  9,  cap.  3,  56. — Gomara,  Cron., 
cap.  215,  ap.  Darcia,  torn.  11. — Toribio,  Hist.de  los  Indios,  MS.,  Parte  1, 
cap.  4. 

C^avigero  says  that  the  highpriest  was  necessarily  a  person  of  rank.  (Stor. 
del  Messico,  torn.    II,  p.    37.)     I    find    no  authority  ior  this,  not    «ven  in  his 


SACERDOTAL   ORDER,  (g 

The  priests  were  each  devoted  to  the  service  of  some  particu- 
lar deity,  and  had  quarters  provided  within  the  spacious  pre- 
cincts of  their  temple  ;  at  least,  while  engaged  in  immediate 
attendance  there, — for  they  were  allowed  to  marry,  and  have 
families  of  their  own.  In  this  monastic  residence  they  lived  in 
all  the  stern  severity  of  conventual  discipline.  Thrice  during 
the  day,  and  once  at  night,  they  were  called  to  prayers.  Tiiey 
were  frequent  in  their  ablutions  and  vigils,  and  mortified  the 
flesh  by  fasting  and  cruel  penance, — drawing  blood  from  their 
bodies  by  flagellation,  or  by  piercing  them  v/ith  the  thorns  of  the 
aloe  ;  in  short,  by  practising  all  those  austerities  to  which  fanat- 
icism (to  borrow  the  strong  language  of  the  poet)  has  resorted, 
in  every  age  of  the  world, 

"  In  hopes  to  merit  heaven  by  making  earth  a  hell."^* 

The  great  cities  were  divided  into  districts  placed  under  the 
charge  of  a  sort  of  parochial  clergy,  who  regulated  every  act  of 
religion  within  their  precincts.  It  is  remarkable  that  they  ad- 
ministered the  rites  of  confession  and  absolution.  The  secrets 
of  the  confessional  were  held  inviolable,  and  penances  were  im- 
posed of  much  the  same  kind  as  those  enjoined  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  There  were  two  remarkable  peculiarities  in 
the  Aztec  ceremony.  The  first  was,  that,  as  the  repetition  of 
an  offence,  once  atoned  for,  was  deemed  inexpiable,  confession 
was  made  but  once  in  a  man's  life,  and  was  usually  deferred  to 
a  late  period  of  it,  when  the  penitent  unburdened  his  conscience, 
and  settled,  at  once,  the  long  arrears  of  iniquity.  Another  pe- 
culiarity was,  that  priestly  absolution  was  received  in  place  of 
the  legal  punishment  of  offences,  and  authorized  an  acquittal  in 
case  ef  arrest.  Long  after  the  Conquest,  the  simple  natives, 
when  they  came  under  the  arm  of  the  law,  sought  to  escape  by 
producing  the  certificate  of  their  confession.'^ 

oracle,  Torquemada,  who  expressly  says,  '"  There  is  no  ', /arrant  for  the  as- 
sertion, however  probal)le  t!ie  fact  may  uc."  (Monarch.  Inch.  lib.  9,  cap.  5.; 
-I't-  is  contradicted  by  Sahagun,  whom  I  have  followed  as  the  higliest  authoriU' 
in  these  matters.  Clavijrero  had  no  other  knowledge  of  Sahagun's  work 
than  what  was  filtered  through  the  writings  of  Torquem.acia,  and  later 
authors. 

^'^' .Sahagun.  Hist  clc  Niieva  Ksr»ana.  ubi  supra, — T'lrqueniada,  Monarch. 
Ind.,  lib.  9,  ca])  25. — C)(;niara.  C'ron.,  a]x  l^arcia,  ubi  Jtupra, — Acosta,  lib.  ^ 
cap.  14,  17. 

•■'  Sahagiin,  Hist,  de    Xueva  I''s!>ina,  lib    i,  caj).   12  ;  lib  6,  cap.  7. 

The  address  of  the  confessor,  un  these  occasions,  contains  some  tiiiugf 
too  remarkable  to  l)e  oiniitiKi  '"  <  >  merciful  Lord,"  he  says,  in  his  prayer. 
"  thou  who  knowest  the  secrets  of  all  hearts,  let  thy  forgiveness  and  favof 
descend,  like  the    pure    waters  of    heaven,  to  wash   away  the  staioB  from  the 


m0  AZTEC  C/V/LIZ at/on: 

One  of  the  ^I'lCw  important  duties  of  the  priesthood  was  that 
of  education,  lo  ,.hich  certain  buildings  vere  appropriated  with- 
in the  inclosure  of  the  principal  temple.  Here  the  youth  of  both 
sexes,  of  the  higher  and  middling  orders,  were  placed  at  a  very 
tender  age.  The  girls  were  intrusted  to  the  care  of  priestesses  ; 
for  women  were  allowed  to  exercise  sacerdotal  functions,  ex- 
cept those  of  sacrifice.^".  In  these  institutions  the  bovs  were 
drilled  in  the  routine  of  monastic  disipline  ;  they  decorated  the 
shrines  of  the  gods  with  flowers,  fed  the  sacred  fires,  and  took 
part  in  the  religious  chants  and  festivals.  Thosj  in  the  higher 
schools — the  Calmecac.  as  it  was  called — were  initiated  in  their 
traditionary  lore,  toe  mysteries  of  hieroglyphics,  the  principles 
of  government,  and  such  branches  of  astronomical  and  natural 
science  as  were  within  the  compass  of  the  priesthood.  The  girls 
learned  various  feminine  employments,  especially  to  weave  and 
embroider  rich  coverings  for  the  altars  of  the  gods.  Great 
attention  was  paid  to  the  moral  discipline  of  both  sexes.  The 
most  perfect  decorum  prevailed  ;  and  offences  were  punished 
with  extreme  rigor,  in  some  instances  with  death  itself.  Terror, 
not  love,  was  the  spring  of  education  with  the  Aztecs. ^^ 

At  a  suitable  age   for  marrying,  or  for  entering  into  the  world, 

soul.  Thou  knowest  that  this  poor  man  has  sinned,  not  ft-om  his  ojvn  fret 
will,  but  from  the  influence  of  tlie  sign  in  under  which  he  was  born."  Afccr  a 
copious  exhortation  to  the  penitent,  enjoying  a  variety  of  mortifications  and 
minute  ceremonies  by  way  of  ])enance,  and  particularly  urging  the  necessity 
of  instantly  procuring  a  slave  for  sacrifice  to  the  Deity,  the  priest  concludes 
with  inculcating  charity  to  the  poor.  "  Clothe  tlie  naked  and  feed  the  hungry, 
whatever  privations  it  may  cost  thee  ;  for  remember,  their  flesh  is  like  thine, 
and  they  are  men  like  thee.'"  Such  is  the  strange  medley  of  truly  Christian 
benevolence  and  heathenish  abominations  which  pervade  the  Aztec  litany, — 
intimating  sources  widely  different. 

'^'  The  Egyptian  gods  were  also  served  by  priestesses.  (See  Herodotus, 
Euterpe,  sec.  54.)  Tales  of  scantlal  similar  to  those  which  the  Greeks 
circulated  respecting  them,  have  been  told  of  the  Aztec  virgins  (See  Le 
Noir's  dissertation,  ap.  Antiquites  Mexicaines,  (Paris,  1834,)  torn.  II.  p.  7. 
note)  The  early  missionaries,  credulous  enough  certainly,  give  no  counte- 
nance to  sucli  reports  ;  and  father  Acosta,  on  the  contrary,  exclaims,  "  In 
truth,  it  is  very  strange  to  see  that  this  false  opinion  of  religion  hath  so  great 
force  among  these  young  men  and  maidens  of  Mexico,  that  tliey  will  serve 
the  Divell  with  so  great  rigor  and  austerity,  which  many  of  us  doe  not  in  the 
service  of  the  most  high  God  ;  the  whicli  is  a  great  shame  and  confusion." 
Eng.  Trans.,  lib.  5,  caji.  16. 

1**  Toribio,  Hist,  de  los  Indios,  MS.,  Parte  1,  cap.  9. — Sahagun,  Hist,  de 
Nueva  Espana,  lib.  2,,  Apend.  ;  lib,  3,  cap.  4-8. — Zurita,  Rapport,  pp.  123- 
126. — Acosta,  lib.  5,  cap.  15,  16.— Torquemada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  9,  cap. 
I1-14,  30,  31. 

"  1  hey  were  taught."  says  tlie  good  father  last  cited,  "  to  eschew  vice, 
and  cleave  to  virtue, — 'iccordi7t^  to  their  notions  of  them  ;  namely,  to  abstam 
from  wrath,  to  offer  violence  and  do  wrong  to  no  man, — in  short  to  perform 
the  duties  plainly  pointed  out  b*'  natural  religion." 


SA  CERD O  7'A /.   ORDER. 


7^ 


the  pupils  were  dismissed,  with  much  ceremony,  from  the  con« 

vent,  and  the  recommendation  of  the  principal  often  introduced 
those  most  competent  to  responsible  situations  in  public  life 
Such  was  the  crafty  policy  of  the  Mexican  priests,  who,  by 
reserving  to  themselves  the  business  of  instruction,  were  enabled 
to  mould  the  young  and  plastic  mind  according  to  their  own 
wills,  and  to  train  it  early  to  implicit  reverence  for  religion  and 
its  ministers  ;  a  reverence  which  still  maintained  its  hold  on  the 
iron  nature  of  the  warrior,  long  after  every  other  vestige  of 
education  had  been  effaced  by  the  rough  trade  to  which  he  was 
devoted. 

To  each  of  the  principal  temples,  lands  were  annexed  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  priests.  These  estates  were  augmented  by 
the  policy  or  devotion  of  successive  princes,  until,  under  the  last 
Montezuma,  they  had  swollen  to  an  enormous  extent,  and 
covered  every  district  of  the  empire.  The  priests  took  the 
management  of  their  property  into  their  own  hands  ;  and  they 
seem  to  have  treated  their  tenants  witli  the  liberality  and  indulg- 
ence characteristic  of  monastic  corporations.  Besides  the  large 
supplies  drawn  from  this  source,  the  religious  order  was  enriched 
with  the  first-fruits,  and  such  other  offerings  as  piety  or  supersti- 
tion dictated.  The  surplus  beyond  what  was  required  for  the 
support  of  the  national  worship  was  distributed  in  alms  among 
the  poor  ;  a  duty  strenuously  prescribed  by  their  moral  code. 
Thus  we  find  the  same  religion  inculcating  lessons  of  pure 
philanthropy,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  merciless  extermination, 
as  we  shall  soon  see,  on  the  other.  The  inconsistency  will  not 
appear  incredible  to  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  history  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  in  the  early  ages  of  the  Inquisition." 

The  Mexican  temples — teocallis,  "  houses  of  God,"  as  they 
were  very  numerous.  There  were  several  hundreds  in  each  of 
the  principal  cities,  many  of  them,  doubtless,  very  humble  edi- 
fices. They  were  solid  masses  of  each,  cased  with  brick,  or 
stone,  and  in  their  form  somewhat  resembled  the  pyramida' 
structures  of  ancient  Egypt.  The  bases  of  many  of  them  were 
more  than  a  hundred  feet  square,   and  they  towered  to   a  still 

"*  Torqiieniada,  Monarch.  Iiul  ,  lib.  8,  cap.  20,21. — Camargo,  ffist.  de 
Tlascala,  MS. 

It  is  iinjjo.ssible  not  to  Ije  struck  with  the  great  resemblance,  not  merely 
in  a  few  empty  forms,  l)ut  in  the  wlioh;  way  of  life,  of  the  Mexican  and 
Egvptian  priesthood.  Comj^are  Ilerodotus  (Kuterpe,  passim)  and  Diodorus 
(lib.  I,  sec.  73,  81).  The  English  reader  may  consult,  for  the  same  purpose, 
Heeren,  (Hist.  Res.,  vol.  V.  chap  2,)  Wilkinson,  (Manners  and  Custotns 
of  the  Ancient  Egyptians,  (London,  1837,)  vol.1,  pp.  257-279,)  the  last  writer 
especially, — who  has  contributed,  more  than  all  others,  towards  opening  t« 
•s  the  interior  of  th«  social  life  of  this  interesting  people. 


■  2  AZTEC  CIVILIZATION. 

greater  height.  They  were  distributed  into  four  or  five  stories, 
each  of  smaller  dimensions  than  that  below.  The  ascent  wa 
by  a  flight  of  steps,  at  an  angle  of  the  pyramid,  on  the  out 
^ide.  This  led  to  a  sort  of  terrace,  or  gallery,  at  the  base  of  the 
second  story,  which  passed  quite  round  the  building  to  another 
flight  of  stairs,  commencing  also  at  the  same  angle  as  the  preced- 
ing and  direcUy  over  it,  and  leading  to  a  similar  terrace  ;  so  that 
one  had  to  make  the  circuit  of  the  temple  several  times,  before 
reaching  the  summit.  In  some  instances  the  stairway  led  directly 
up  the  centre  of  the  western  face  of  the  building.  The  top  was 
a  broad  area,  on  which  were  erected  one  or  two  towers,  forty  or 
fifty  feet  high,  the  sanctuaries  in  which  stood  the  sacred  images 
of  the  presiding  deities.  Before  these  towers  stood  the  dreadful 
stone  of  sacrifice,  and  two  lofty  altars,  on  which  fires  were  kept, 
as  inextinguishable  as  those  in  the  temple  of  Vesta.  There 
were  said  to-be  six  hundred  of  these  altars,  on  smaller  buildings 
within  the  inclosure  of  the  great  temple  of  Mexico,  which,  with 
those  on  the  sacred  edifices  in  other  parts  of  the  city,  shed  a 
brilliant  illumination  over  its  streets,  through  the  darkest  night. ^ 

From  the  construction  of  their  temples,  all  reJigious  services 
were  public.  The  long  processions  of  priests,  winding  round 
their  massive  sides,  as  they  rose  higher  and  higher  towards  the 
summit,  and  the  dismal  rites  of  sacrifice  performed  there,  were 
all  visible  from  the  remotest  corners  of  the  capital,  impressing 
on  the  spectator's  mind  a  superstitious  veneration  for  the  mys- 
teries of  his  religion,  and  for  the  dread  ministers  by  whom  they 
were  interpreted. 

This  impression  was  kept  in  full  force  by  their  numerous 
festivals.  Every  month  was  consecrated  to  some  protecting 
deity  ;  and  every  week,  nay,  almost  every  day,  was  set  down  in 
their  calendar  for  some  appropriate  celebration  ;  so  that  it  is 
difficult  to  understand  how  the  ordinary  business  of  life  could 
have  been  compatible  with  the  exactions  of  religion.  Many  of 
their  ceremonies  were  of  a  light  and  cheerful  complexion,  con- 
sisting of  the  national  songs  and  dances,  in  which  both  sexes 
joined.     Processions  were  made  of  women  and  children  crowned 

-'  Rel.  d'un  gent.,  ap.  Ramusio,  torn.  III.  fo!.  307. — Camargo,  Hist,  de 
Tiaacala,  MS  —  Acosta,  lib,  5,  cap.  13. — Gomara,  Cron.,  cap.  80.  ap.  Barcia, 
torn.  II.— Toribio,  Hist,  de  los  Indios,  MS.,  Parte  i,  cap.  4.— Carta  del  Lie. 
Zaazo,  MS, 

'I'his  last  writer,  wlio  visited  Mexico  immediately  after  the  Conquest,  in 
1521,  assures  us  that  jonie  of  the  smaller  temples,  or  pyramids,  were  filled 
with  earth  impregnated  with  odoriferous  gums  and  go'ld  dust  ;  the  latter, 
■onietimes  in  such  quantities  as  probably  to  be  worth  a  million  of  castdlanosl 
|Ubi  supra.)  These  were  the  temples  of  Mammon,  indeed  1  But  I  find  n» 
cor.firmation  of  such  golden  reports. 


HUMAN  SACRIFICES. 


73 


with  garlands  and  bearing  offerings  of  fruits,  and  ripened  maize, 
or  the  sweet  incense  of  copal  and  other  odoriferous  gums,  while 
the  altars  of  the  deity  were  stained  with  no  blood  save  that  of 
animals.^^  These  were  the  peaceful  rites  derived  from  their 
Toltec  predecessors,  on  which  the  fierce  Aztecs  engrafted  a 
superstition  too  loathsome  to  be  exhibited  in  all  its  nakedness, 
and  one  over  which  I  would  gladly  draw  a  veil  altogether,  but 
that  it  would  leave  the  reader  in  ignorance  of  their  most  strik- 
ing institution,  and  one  that  had  the  greatest  influence  in  form- 
ing the  national  character. 

Human  sacrifices  were  adopted  by  the  Aztecs  early  in  the 
fourteenth  century,  about  two  hundred  years  before  the  Con- 
quest." Rare  at  first,  they  became  more  frequent  with  the 
wider  extent  of  their  empire  ;  till,  at  length,  almost  every  festi- 
val was  closed  with  this  cruel  abomination.  These  religious 
ceremonials  were  generally  arranged  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
afford  a  type  of  the  most  prominent  circumstances  in  the  char- 
acter or  history  of  the  deity  who  was  the  object  of  them.  A  sin- 
gle example  will  suffice. 

One  of  their  most  important  festivals  was  that  in  honor  of  the 
god  Tezcatlipoca,  whose  rank  was  inferior  only  to  that  of  the 
Supreme  Being.  He  was  called  "  the  soul  of  the  world,"  and 
supposed  to  have  been  its  creator.  He  was  depicted  as  a 
handsome  man,  endowed  with  perpetual  youth.  A  year  before 
the  intended  sacrifice,  a  captive,  distinguished  for  his  personal 
beauty,  and  without  a  blemish  on  his  body,  was  selected  to  re- 
present this  deity.  Certain  tutors  took  charge  of  him,  and  in- 
structed him  how  to  perform  his  new  part  with  becoming  grace 
and  dignity.  He  was  arrayed  in  a  splendid  dress,  regaled  with 
incense  and  with  a  profusion  of  sweet-scented  flowers,  of  which 
the  ancient  Mexicans  were  as  fond  as  their  descendants  at  the 
present  day.  When  he  went  abroad,  he  was  attended  by  a  train 
of  the  royal  pages,  and,  as  he  halted  in  the  streets  to  play  some 
favorite  melody,  the  crowd  prostrated  themselves  before  him, 
and  did  him  homage  as  the  representative  of  their  good  deity. 
In   this  way  he    led  an  easy,   luxurious    life,  till  within  a   month 

^'  Cod.  Tel.  Rem., PI.  i,  and  Cod.  Vat.  passim,  ap,  Antiq.  of  Mexico, 
vols.  I.,  VT. — Tortiuemada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  lo,  cap,  lo,  et  seri. — .Saha- 
gut),  Hist,  do  Xueva  Espaiia,  lib.  2,  pa.ssim. 

.•\mong  the  offerinc^s,  quails  may  be  particiiharly  noticed,  for  the  incredible 
quantities  of  them  sacrificed  and  consumed  at  many  of  the  festivals. 

■■'-'  The  traditions  of  their  origin  have  somewhat  of  a  fabulous  tinge.  But, 
whether  true  or  false,  they  are  equally  indicative  of  unparalleled  ferocity  in  the 
people  who  could  l)e  the  subject  of  thcni.  Clavigero,  .Stor.  del  Messico, 
torn.  I,  J).  167,  et  s{tr|. ;  .ilh<j  Ilunibohlt,  (who  does  not  appear  to  doubt 
them,)  Vues  des  CordiUeres,  p.  95. 


j^^  AZTEC  CIVILIZATION. 

of  his  sacrifice.     Four  beautiful  girls,  bearing  the  names  of  the 

principal  goddesses,  were  then  selected  to  share  the  honors  of 
his  bed ;  and  with  them  he  continued  to  live  in  idle  dalliance, 
feasted  at  the  banquets  of  the  principal   nobies,  who  paid  him 

all  the  honors  of  a  divinity. 

At  length  the  fatal  day  of  sacrifice  arrived.  The  term  of  his 
short-lived  glories  was  at  an  end.  He  was  stripped  of  his  gaudy 
apparel,  and  bade  adieu  to  the  fair  partners  of  his  revelries. 
One  of  the  royal  barges  transported  him  across  the  lake  to  a 
temple  which  rose  on  its  margin,  about  a  league  from  the  city. 
Hither  the  inhabitants  of  the  capital  flocked,  to  witness  the  con- 
summation of  the  ceremony.  As  the  sad  procession  wound  up 
the  sides  of  the  pyramid,  the  unhappy  victim  threw  away  his 
gay  chaplets  of  flowers,  and  broke  in  pieces  the  musical  instru- 
ments with  which  he  had  solaced  the  hours  of  captivity.  On 
the  summit  he  was  received  by  six  priests,  whose  long  and  mat- 
ted locks  flowed  disorderly  over  their  sable  robes,  covered  with 
hieroglyphic  scrolls  of  mystic  import.  They  led  him  to  the 
sacrificial  stone,  a  huge  block  of  jasper,  with  its  upper  surface 
somewhat  convex.  On  this  the  prisoner  was  stretched.  Five 
priests  secured  his  head  and  his  limbs  :  while  the  sixth  clad  in 
a  scarlet  mantle,  emblematic  of  his  bloody  office,  dexterously 
opened  the  breast  of  the  wretched  victim  with  a  sharp  razor  of 
itztU., — a  volcanic  substance,  hard  as  flin:. — and,  inserting  his 
hand  in  the  wound,  tore  cut  the  palpitating  heart.  The  minister 
of  death,  first  holding  this  up  towards  the  sun,  an  object  of 
worship  throughout  Atiahuac,  cast  it  at  the  feet  of  the  deity  to 
whom  the  temple  was  devoted,  while  the  multitudes  below  pros- 
trated themselves  in  humble  adoration.  The  tragic  story  of  this 
prisoner  was  expounded  by  the  priests  as  the  type  of  human 
destiny,  which,  brilliant  in  its  commencement,  too  often  closes 
in  sorrow  and  disaster.'^* 

Such  was  the  form  of  human  sacrifice  usually  practiced  by 
the  Aztecs.  It  was  the  same  that  often  met  the  indignant  eyes 
of  the  Europeans,  in  their  progress  through  the  country,  and 
from  the  dreadful  doom  of  which  they  themselves  were  not  ex- 
empted. There  were,  indeed,  some  occasions  when  preliminary 
tortures,  of  the    most  exquisite  kind, — with  which  it  is  unneces- 

^  Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nueva  Espana,  lib.  2,  cap.  2,  5,  24,  et  alibi. — Herrert, 
111:,  vieneral,  dec.  3,  lib.  2,  cap.  16. — Torquemada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  7, 
caj..  19;  lib.  10,  caj\  1.4 — Rel.  d'un  gent.,  ap.  Ramusio,  torn  III.  fol.  307.— 
Acosta,  lib.  5.  cap.  9-21. — Carta  del  I.ic-  Zuazo,  IV" — Relacion  por  d 
Regimiento  <!.j  Vera  Cruz,  (Julio,  1519.)  MS. 

Few  readers  probably,  will  svmpathize  with  the  sCiitence  of  Torquemaday 
who  concludes  his  tale'of  woe  bv  cooUv  dismissing  "  the  soul  of  the  viciin, 
to  sleep  with  those  of  his  false  guds,  in  heii  I  "  LHj.  10,  cap.  23. 


HUMAX  SACRIFICES  ye 

iary  to  shock  the  reader. — were  inflicted,  but  they  always  ter- 
minated with  the  bloody  ceremony  above  described.  It  should 
be  remarked,  however,  that  such  tortures  were  not  the  sponta- 
Beous  suggestions  of  cruelty,  as  with  the  North  American 
Indians ;  but  were  all  rigorously  prescribed  in  the  Aztec  ritual, 
and  doubtless  were  often  inflicted  with  the  same  compunctious 
visitings  which  a  devout  familiar  of  the  Holy  Office  might  at 
times  experience  in  executing  its  stern  decrees.  '^  Women,  as 
well  as  the  other  sex,  were  sometimes  reserved  for  sacrifice. 
On  some  occasions,  particularlv  in  seasons  of  drought,  at  the 
festival  of  the  insatiable  Tlaloc,  the  god  of  rain,  children,  for 
the  most  part  infants,  were  oftered  up.  As  they  were  borne  along 
in  open  litters,  dressed  in  their  festal  robes,  and  decked  with 
the  fresh  blossoms  of  spring,  they  moved  the  hardest  heart  to 
pity,  though  their  cries  were  drowned  in  the  wild  chant  of  the 
priests,  wlio  read  in  their  tears  a  favorable  augury  for  their  peti- 
tion. These  innocent  victims  were  generally  bought  by  the 
priests  or  parents  who  were  poor,  but  who  stifled  the  voice  of 
nature,  probably  less  at  the  suggestions  of  poverty,  than  of  a 
wretched  superstition."'^ 

The  most  loathsome  part  of  the  story — the  manner  in  which 
the  body  of  the  sacrificed  captive  was  disposed  of — remains  yet 
to  be  told.  It  was  delivered  to  the  warrior  who  had  taken  him 
in  battle,  and  by  him,  after  being  dressed,  was  served  up  in  an 
entertainment  to  his  friends.  This  was  not  the  coarse  repast  of 
famished  cannibals,  but  a  banquet  teeming  with  delicious  bever- 
ages and  delicate  viands,  prepared  with  art,  and  attended  by 
both  sexes,  who,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  conducted  themselves 
with   all  the   decorum  of  civilized  life.     Surely,  never  were   re- 

^  vSahagun,  Hist  de  Nueva  Espana,  lib.  2,  cap,  10,  29. — Comara,  Cron., 
cap.  219,  ap.  Barcia,  torn.  II. — Toiibio,  Ilist.  de  los  Indios,  MS.,  Parte  I, 
cap.  6-1 1. 

The  reader  will  find  a  tolerably  exact  picture  of  the  nature  of  these 
tortures  in  the  twenty-first  canto  of  the  "  Inferno."  The  fantastic  creations 
of  the  Florentine  poet  were  nearly  realized,  at  the  very  time  he  was  writing, 
by  the  barbarians  of  an  unknown  world.  One  sacrifice,  of  a  less  revolting 
character,  fieserves  to  be  mentioned.  The  Spaniards  called  it  the  "gladia- 
torial sacrifice,"  and  it  may  reinind  one  of  the  bloody  games  of  antiquity.  A 
captive  of  distinction  was  sometimes  furnished  with  arms,  and  brought 
against  a  number  of  Mexicans  in  siiccession.  If  he  defeated  them  all,  as 
did  occasionally  happen,  he  was  allowerl  to  escape.  If  vanquished,  he  wa.s 
dragged  to  tlie  block  and  sacrificed  iti  the  usual  manner.  The  combat  was 
fought  on  a  huge  circular  stone,  before  the  assembled  capital.  Sahagun, 
Hist,  de  Nueva  Kspana,  lib.  i,  cap.  21. — Kcl.  d'un  gent.,  ap.  Ramusio,  torn. 
III.  fol.  30 -V 

'•*  Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nueva  P^spafia,  lib.  2,  caj).  i,  .4,  21,  et  alibi. — Tor- 
quemada.,  .Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  10,  cap  lu. — Clavigcro,  Stor.  del  Messico,  toiUa 
II.  pp.  76,  82. 


m%  AZTEC  CIV/LIZA  TION. 

finement  and  the  extreme  of  barbarism  brought  so  closely  in 

contact  with  each  other  !  ^ 

Human  sacrifices  have  been  practiced  by  many  nations,  not 
excepting  the  most  polished  nations  of  antiquity  j'*  but  never 
by  any,  on  a  scale  to  be  compared  with  those  in  Anahuac.  The 
amount  of  victims  immolated  on  its  accursed  altars  would  stag- 
ger the  faith  of  the  least  scrupulous  believer.  Scarcely  any 
author  pretends  to  estimate  the  yearly  sacrifices  throughout  the 
empire  at  less  than  twenty  thousand,  and  some  carry  the  num- 
ber as  high  as  fifty  !  ^ 

On  great  occasions,  as  the  coronation  of  a  king,  or  the  conse- 
cration of  a  temple,  the  number  becomes  still  more  appalling. 
At  the  dedication  of  the  great  temple  of  Huitzilopotchli,  i486,  the 
prisoners,  who  for  some  years  had  been  reserved  for  the  purpose, 
were  drawn  from  all  quarters  to  the  capital.  They  were  ranged 
in  files,  forming  a  procession  nearly  two  miles  long.  The  cere- 
mony consumed  several  days,  and  seventy  thousand  captives  are 
said  to  have  perished  at  the  shrine  of  this  terrible  deity  !  But 
who  can  believe  that  so  numerous  a  body  would  have  suffered 
themselves  to  be  led  unresistingly  like  sheep  to  the  slaughter  ? 
Or  how  could  their  remains,  too  great  for  consumption  in  the  ordi- 

^-^  Carta  del  Lie.  Zuazo.  MS. — Torquemada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  7,  cap. 
19. — Herrera,  Hist.  General,  dec.  3,  lib.  2,  cap.  17. — Sahagun,  Hist,  de 
Kueva  Espana,  lib.  2,  cap.  21,  et  alibi. — Toribio  Hist,  de  !os  Indios,  MS., 
Parte  i,  cap.  2. 

■^  To  say  nothing  of  Egypt  where,  notwithstanding  the  indications  on 
the  monuments,  there  is  strong  reason  for  doubting  it.  (Comp.  Herodotus, 
Euterpe,  sec.  45. )  It  was  of  frequent  occurrence  among  the  Greeks,  as 
e%'ery  schoolboy  knows.  In  Rome,  it  was  so  common  as  to  require  to  be 
interdicted  by  an  exprass  law,  less  than  a  hundred  years  before  the  Christian 
era, — a  law  recorded  ma  very  honest  strain  of  exultation  by  Pliny;  (Hist, 
Nat.,  lib.  30,  sec.  3,  4;)  notwithstanding  which  traces  of  the  existence  of  the 
practice  may  be  discerned  to  a  much  later  period.  See,  among  others, 
Horace,  lipod..  In  Canidiam. 

'••■'  See  Clavigero,  Stor.  del  Messico,  torn.  II.  p.  49. 

Bishop  Zuiriarraga,  in  a  letter  written  a  few  years  after  the  Conquest, 
.states  that  20,000  victims  were  yearly  slaughtered  in  the  capital.  Torq-ie- 
rnada  turns  :'ii-  into  20,000  i7ifaii:s  (Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  7,  cap.  21., 
Herrera,  foliowin;r  Acosta.  savs  20.000  victim^  on  a  specified  day  of  the 
year,  througlioiit  the  kingdom.  (Hist,  General,  dec.  2.  lib.  2,  cap.  id.) 
Clavigero,  more  cautious,  infers  that  this  number  may  have  been  sacrificed 
aninially  thrf)ughout  Anahuac.  (Ubi  supra.)  Las  Casas.  however,  in  his 
rt-uiy  to  Sepulveda's  assertion,  that  no  one  who  had  visited  the  New  World 
P  ii  the  number  of  yearly  sacrifices  at  less  than  20,000.  declares  that  "  this  is 
til',  e^timate  of  brigands,  who  wish  to  find  an  apolosyfor  their  own  atrocities, 
and  that  the  real  number  was  not  above  50"  !  (tEuves,  ed.  Llorente,  (Paris 
i:-!;;2,;  toin.  '■  i'p-  3^j5,  3S6. )  Probably  the  good  I! '^nop's  arithmetic,  here, 
as  in  most  'ji'icr  instances,  came  more  from  his  heart  than  his  head.  With 
such  loose  and  li intradictory  ^/(i/rt,  it  is  clear  that  any  specific  number  is 
mere  conjecture,  Lindestrving'ihe  name  of  calculation. 


HUMAN  SACRIFICES, 


77 


nary  way,  be  disposed  of,  without  breeding  a  pestilence   in  the 

capital  ?  Yet  the  event  was  of  recent  date,  and  is  unequivocally 
attested  by  the  best  informed  historians.''®  One  fact  may 
be  considered  certain.  It  was  customary  to  preserve  the 
skulls  of  the  sacrificed,  in  buildings  appropriated  to  the  pur- 
pose. The  companions  of  Cones  counted  one  hundred  and 
thirty-six  thousand  in  one  of  these  edifices  \^  Without  attempt- 
ing a  precise  calculation,  therefore,  it  is  safe  to  conclude  that 
thousands  were  yearly  offered  up,  in  the  different  cities  of 
Anahuac,  on  the  bloody  altars  of  the  Mexican  divinities.^ 

Indeed,  the  great  object  of  war,  with  the  Aztecs,  was  quite  as 
much  to  gather  victims  for  their  sacrifices,  as  to  extend  their 
empire.  Hence  it  was,  that  an  enemy  was  never  slain  in  battle, 
if  there  were  a  chance  of  taking  him  alive.  To  this  circum- 
stance the  Spaniards  repeatedly  owed  their  preservation.  When 
Montezuma  was  asked,  "  why  he  had  suffered  the  republic  of 
Tlascala  to  maintain  her  independence  on  his  borders,"  he  re- 
plied, "  that  she  might  furnish  him  with  victims  for  his  gods  "  ! 
As  the  supply  began  to  fail,  the  priests,  the  Dominicans  of 
the  New  World,  bellowed  aloud  for  more,  and  urged  on  their 
superstitious  sovereign  by  the  denunciations  of  celestial  wrath. 
Like  the  militant  churchmen  of  Christendom  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  they  mingled  themselves  in  the  ranks,  and  were  conspicu- 
ous in  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  by  their  hideous  aspect  and 
frantic   gestures.      Strange,    that,    in    every    country,  the    most 

®  I  am  within  bounds.  Toiquemada  states  the  iramber  most  precisely,  at 
72,344.  (Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  2,  cap.  63.)  Ixtilxochitl,  with  eqnal  precision, 
fii  80,400.  (Hist.  Chich.,  MS.)  Quien  sabe  ?  The  latter  adds,  that  the 
captives  inassscred  in  the  capital,  in  the  course  of  that  memorable  year, 
exceeded  100,000!  (Loc.  cit. )  One,  however,  has  to  read  but  a  little  way, 
to  find  out  that  the  science  of  numbers — at  least,  where  the  party  was  not  an 
eyewitness — is  anything  but  an  exact  science  with  these  ancient  chror.i^  lers. 
The  Codex  Tel-Rem.ensis,  written  some  fifty  years  after  the  Conquest, 
reduces  the  amount  to  20,000  (Antiq.  of  Mexico,  vol  I.  PI.  ic^;  vol.  W  p. 
141,  Eng.  note  )  Even  this  hardly  warrants  the  Spanish  inter])reter  in  call- 
ing king  Ahuitzotl  a  man  "  of  a  mild  and  a  moderate  disposition,"  teinp'Uida 
V  bentgna  coiidicion  !  Ibid.,  vol.  V.  p.  49. 

^'  Gomara  states  the  number  on  the  authority  of  two  soldiers,  wiiose  names 
he  gives,  who  took  the  trouble  to  count  the  grinning  horrors  in  one  of  these 
Golgothas,  where  they  were  so  arranged  as  to  i)roduce  the  most  hideous 
effect.  The  existence  of  these  conservatories  is  attested  by  every  writer  of 
the  time 

''  The  "Anonymous  Conqueror "  assures  as,  as  a  fact  beyond  dispute, 
thai  the  T)evii  introduced  himself  into  the  bodies  of  the  idols,  and  persuaded 
the  silly  i)rie.<<ts  th,it  his  only  diet  was  human  hearts!  It  furnishes  a  very 
sati-sfactory  solution,  to  his  mind,  of  the  frequency  of  sacrifices  in  Mexico. 
Kel.  d'un  gent.,  ap.  Kaniusio,  torn.   III.  fol.  307. 


^g  AZTEC  civilization: 

fiendish  passions  of  the  human  heart  have  been  those  kindled 
in  the  name  of  religion  !  ^'^ 

The  influence  of  these  practices  on  the  Aztec  character  was 
as  disastrous  as  might  have  been  expected.  Familiarity  with 
the  bloody  rites  of  sacrifice  steeled  the  heart  against  human 
sympathy,  and  begat  a  thirst  for  carnage,  like  that  excited  in 
the  Romans  by  the  exhibitions  of  the  circus.  The  perpetual 
recurrence  of  ceremonies,  in  which  the  people  took  part,  asso- 
ciated religion  with  their  most  intimate  concerns,  and  spread 
the  gloom  of  superstition  over  the  domestic  hearth,  until  the 
character  of  the  nation  wore  a  grave  and  even  melancholy  as- 
pect, which  belongs  to  their  descendants  at  the  present  day. 
The  influence  of  the  priesthood,  of  course,  became  unbounded. 
The  sovereign  thought  himself  honored  by  being  permitted  to 
assist  in  the  services  of  the  temple.  Far  from  limiting  the 
authority  of  the  priests  to  spiritual  matters,  he  often  surren- 
dered his  opinion  to  theirs,  where  they  were  least  competent 
to  give  it.  It  was  their  opposition  that  prevented  the  final 
capitulation  which  would  have  saved  the  capital.  The  whole 
nation,  from  the  peasant  to  the  prince,  bowed  their  necks  to  the 
worst  kr^d  of  tyranny,  that  of  a  blind  fanaticism. 

In  reflecting  on  the  revolting  usages  recorded  in  the  preced- 
ing pages,  one  finds  it  difficult  to  reconcile  their  existence  with 
anything  like  a  regular  form  of  government,  or  an  advance  in 
civilization.  Yet  the  Mexicans  had  many  claims  to  the  charac 
ter  of  a  civilized  community.  One  may,  perhaps,  better  under- 
stand the  anomaly,  by  reflecting  en  the  condition  of  some  of  the 
most  polished  countries  in  Europe,  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
after  the  establishment  of  the  modern  Inquisition  ;  an  institu- 
tion, which  yearly  destroyed  its  thousands,  by  a  death  more 
painful  than  the  Aztec  sacrifices  ;  which  armed  the  hand  of 
brother  against  brother,  and,  setting  its  burning  seal  upon  the 

^  The  Tezcucan  priests  would  fain  have  persuaded  the  good  king  Xeza- 
•ualcoyotl,  on  occasion  of  a  pestilence,  to  appease  the  gods  by  the  sacrifice 
of  some  of  his  own  subjects,  instead  of  his  enemies  ;  on  the  ground,  that, 
not  only  thev  would  be  obtained  more  easilv,  but  would  be  fresher  victims, 
and  more  acceptable.  (Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  41.)  This 
wri::er  mentions  a  coo!  arrangement  entered  into  by  the  allied  monarchs  with 
the  republic  of  Tlascala  and  her  confederates.  A  battlefield  was  marked 
out,  on  which  the  troops  of  the  hostile  nations  were  to  engage  at  stated  sea- 
ions,  and  thus  supply  themselves  with  subjects  for  sacrifice.  The  victo- 
rious party  was  not  to  pursue  his  advantage  by  invading  the  other's  territory, 
and  they  were  to  continue,  in  all  other  respects,  on  the  most  amicable  foot- 
ing. (Ubi  supra.)  The  historian,  who  follows  in  '  j  track  of  the  Tezcucat 
Chronicler,  may  often  find  occasion  to  shelter  hii  .self,  like  Ariosto,  with 

"  Mettendo!o  Turpin,  lo  nieuo  ancli'  io." 


HUM  AX  SACRIFICES. 


79 


Kp,  did  more  to  stay  the  march  of  improvement  than  any  other 
scheme  ever  devised  by  a  human  cunning. 

Human  sacriiice,  however  cruel,  has  nothing  in  it  degrading 
to  its  victim.  It  may  be  rather  said  to  ennoble  him  by  devoting 
him  to  the  gods.  Although  so  terrible  with  the  Aztecs,  ii  was 
sometimes  voluntarily  embraced  by  them,  as  the  most  glorious 
death,  and  one  that  opened  a  sure  passage  into  paradise.^ 
The  Inquisition,  on  the  other  hand,  branded  its  victims  with  in- 
famy in  this  world,  and  consigned  them  to  everlasting  perdition 
in  the  next. 

One  detestable  feature  of  the  Aztec  superstition,  however, 
sunk  it  far  below  the  Christian.  This  was  its  cannibalism  ; 
though,  in  truth,  the  Mexicans  were  not  cannibals,  in  the 
coarsest  acceptation  of  the  term.  They  did  not  feed  on  human 
flesh  merely  to  gratify  a  brutish  appetite,  but  in  obedience  to 
their  religion.  Their  repasts  were  made  of  the  victims  whose 
blood  had  been  poured  out  on  the  altar  of  sacrifice.  This  is  a 
distinction  worthy  of  notice.^  Still,  cannibalism,  under  any 
form,  or  whatever  sanction,  cannot  but  have  a  fatal  influence  on 
the  nation  addicted  to  it.  It  suggests  ideas  so  loathsome,  so 
degrading  to  man,  to  his  spiritual  and  immortal  nature,  that  it 
is  impossible  the  people  who  practice  it  should  make  any  great 
progress  in  moral  or  intellectual  culture.  The  Mexicans  furnish 
no  exception  to  this  remark.  The  civilization,  which  they  pos- 
sessed, descended  from  the  Toltecs,  a  race  who  never  stained 
their  altars,  still  less  their  banquets,  with  the  blood  of  man. 
All  that  deserved  the  name  of  science  in  Mexico  came  from  this 
source;  and  the  crumbling  ruins  of  edifices,  attributed  to  them, 
■Still  extant  in  various  parts  of  New  Spain,  show  a  decided 
superiority  in  their  architecture  over  that  of  the  later  races  of 
Anahuac.  ft  is  true,  the  Mexicans  made  great  proficiency  in 
many  of  the  social  and  m.echanic  arts,  in  that  material  culture, — 
if  I  may  so  call  it, — the  natural  growth  of  increasin<2;  opulence, 
which  ministers  to  the  gratification  of  the  senses  In  purelv  in- 
tellectual progress,  they  were  behind  the  Tezcucans.  whose  wise 
sovereigns  came  into  the  abominable  rites  of  their  ncighijors 
with  reluctance,  and  practised  them  on  a  much  more  moderate 
scale.'* 

''^'-  Rel.  d'un  gent.  ap.  R:uiiu-io,  toni.  III.  f"l.  307. 

Among  other  instaiicc:-,  i-,  thrit  of  rhinKili^opoca,  third  king  of  Mexico, 
who  doonicfi  himself,  with  a  nmnljcr  (.)f  i.is  lords,  to  this  deati-.,  to  wip"  aff 
an  indignity  off'jrcd  him  by  a  Ijr'/liicr  m  iiiarch.  (Torqucm;iila,  .Monarch, 
Ind.,  hb.  2,  cap.  2!~!. )     Tliis  was  the  law  :ii  honor  with  the  Aztecs. 

■'''  Voltaire,  douijt.es.-,,  intends  this,  when  he  says,  "  lis  nV'taient  point 
anthroi)ophages,  comme  un  trCs-pctit  tiomhre  de  pcuplades  Amf^ricaines," 
(Essai  sur  les  M(£urs,  chap.  147.  ) 

*  Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  45,  et  alibi. 


8o  AZTEC  CIVILIZATION. 

In  this  State  of  things,  it  was  beneficently  ordered  by  Provi- 
dence that  the  land  should  be  delivered  over  to  another  race,  vi^ho 
would  rescue  it  from  the  brutish  superstitions  that  daily  exteuded 
wider  and  wider,  with  extent  of  empire.*^  The  debasing  institu- 
tions of  the  Aztecs  furnish  the  best  apology  for  their  conquest. 
It  is  true,  the  conquerors  brought  along  with  them  the  Inquisi- 
tion. But  they  also  brought  Christianity,  whose  benign  radiance 
would  stiil  survive,  when  the  fierce  flames  of  fanaticism  should 
be  extinguished  ;  dispelling  those  dark  forms  of  horror  which 
had  so  long  brooded  over  the  fair  regions  of  Anahuac. 

'*'  No  doubt  the  ferocity  of  character  engendered  by  their  sanguinary  rites 
greatly  facilitated  tlieir  conquests.  Machiavelli  attributes  to  a  similar  cause, 
in  part,  the  military  successes  of  the  Romans.  (Discorsi  sopra  T.  Livio, 
lib.  2,  cap.  2.)  The  same  chapter  contains  some  ingenious  reflections — 
much  more  ingenious  than  candid — on  the  opposite  tendencies  of  Chris- 
tianity. 


The  most  important  authority  in  the  preceding  chapter,  and,  indeed, 
wherever  the  Aztec  religion  is  concerned,  is  Bernardino  de  .Sahagun,  a  Fran- 
ciscan friar,  contemporary  with  the  conquest.  His  great  work,  Historia 
Universal  de  A'ueva  Espana,  has  been  recently  printed  for  the  first  time. 
The  circumstances  attending  its  compilation  and  subsequent  fate  form  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  passages  in  literary  history. 

Sahagun  was  born  in  a  place  of  the  same  name,  in  old  Spain.  He  was  ed- 
ucated at  Salamanca,  and,  having  taken  the  vows  of  St.  Francis,  came  over 
as  a  missionary  to  Mexico  in  the  year  1529.  Here  he  distinguished  himself 
by  his  zeal,  the  purity  of  his  life,  and  his  unwearied  exertions  to  spread  the 
great  truths  of  religion  among  the  natives.  He  was  the  guardian  of  several 
conventual  houses,  successively,  until  he  relinquished  these  cares,  that  he 
might  devote  himself  more  unreservedly  to  the  business  of  preaching,  and  of 
compiling  various  works  designed  to  illustrate  the  antiquities  of  the  Aztecs. 
For  these  literarv  labors  he  found  some  facilities  in  the  situation  which  ha 
continued  to  occupv,  of  reader,  or  lecturer,  in  the  College  of  Santa  Cruz,  in 
the  capital. 

The  "  Universal  History"  was  concocted  in  a  singular  manner.  In  order 
to  secure  to  it  the  greatest  possible  authority,  he  passed  some  years  in  a 
Tezcucan  Knvn.  where  he  conferred  daily  with  a  number  of  respectable  na- 
tives unacquainted  with  Castilian.  He  propounded  to  them  queries,  which 
they,  after  deliberation,  answered  in  their  usual  method  of  writing,  by  hiero- 
glyjihical  paintings.  These  he  submitted  to  other  natives,  who  had  been  ed- 
ucated under  his  own  eve  in  the  college  of  Santa  Cruz,  and  the  latter,  after 
a  consultation  among  themselves,  gave  a  written  version,  in  the  Mexican 
tongue,  of  the  hieroglyphics.  This  process  he  repeated  in  another  place 
in  some  ])art  of  Mexico,  and  subjected  the  whole  to  a  still  further  revision  by 
a  third  body  in  another  quarter.  He  finally  arranged  *!  '  combined  results 
into  a  re;4ular  history,  in  the  form  it  now  bears:  com-  ,sing  it  in  the  Mex- 
ican language,  which  he  could  both  write  and  speak  with  great  accuracy  and 
•legance, — greater,  indeed,  than  any  Spaniard  of  the  time. 

The  work  presented  a  mass  of  curious  information,  that  attracted  much 


SAHAGU?f,  8 1 

attention  among  his  brethren.     But  they  feared  its  influence  in  keeping  alive 

in  the  natives  a  too  vivid  reminiscence  of  the  very  superstitions  which  it  was 
the  great  object  of  the  Christian  clergy  to  eradicate.  Sahagun  had  views 
more  liberal  than  those  of  his  order,  whose  blind  zeal  would  willingly  have 
annihilated  every  monument  of  art  and  human  ingenuity,  which  had  not 
been  produced  under  the  influence  of  Christianity.  They  refused  to  allow 
him  the  necessary  aid  to  transcribe  his  papers,  wfiich  he  had  been  so  many 
years  in  preparing,  under  the  pretext  that  the  expense  was  too  great  for  their 
order  to  incur.  This  occasioned  a  further  delay  of  several  years.  What 
was  worse,  his  provincial  got  possession  of  his  manuscripts,  which  were  soon 
scattered  among  the  different  religious  houses  in  the  country. 

In  this  forlorn  state  of  his  affairs,  Sahagun  drew  up  a  brief  statement  of  the 
nature  and  contents  of  his  \vorl<.  and  forwarded  it  to  Madrid.  It  fell  into 
the  hands  of  Don  Juan  de  Ovando,  ])resident  of  the  Council  for  the  Indies, 
who  was  so  much  interested  in  it,  that  he  ordered  the  manuscripts  to  be  re- 
stored to  their  author,  with  tlie  request  that  he  would  <it  once  set  about 
translating  them  into  Castilian.  This  was  accordingly  done.  His  papers 
were  recovered,  though  not  without  the  menace  of  ecclesiastical  censures ; 
and  the  octogenarian  author  began  the  work  of  translation  from  the  Mexican, 
in  which  they  had  been  originally  written  by  him  thirty  years  before.  He 
had  the  satisfaction  to  complete  the  task,  arranging  the  Spanish  version  in  a 
parallel  column  with  the  original,  and  adding  a  vocabulary,  explaining  the 
difficult  Aztec  terms  and  phrases;  while  the  text  was  supported  by  the  numer- 
ous paintings  on  which  it  was  founded,  In  tliis  form,  making  two  bulky 
volumes  in  folio,  it  was  sent  to  Madrid.  There  seemed  now  to  be  no  further 
reason  for  postponing  its  publication,  the  importance  of  which  could  not  be 
doubted.  But  from  this  moment  it  disappears  ;  and  we  hear  nothing  further 
of  it,  for  more  than  two  centuries,  except  only  as  a  valuable  work,  which  had 
once  existed,  and  was  probably  buried  in  some  one  of  the  numerous  ceme- 
teries of  learning  in  which  Spain  abounds. 

At  length,  towards  the  close  of  tlie  last  century,  the  indefat:gal)!e  Mufioz 
succeeded  in  disinterring  the  long  lost  manuscript  from  the  place  tradition 
had  assigned  to  it, — the  library  of  a  convent  at  Tolosa,  in  Navarre,  the  north- 
ern extremity  of  Spain.  With  his  usual  ardor,  he  transcribed  the  whole 
wrjrk  with  his  own  hands,  and  added  it  to  the  inestimable  collection,  of 
which,  alas  1  he  was  destined  not  to  reap  the  full  benefit  himself.  P'rom  this 
transcript  Lord  Kingsborough  was  enabled  to  procure  the  copy  which  was 
published  in  1S30,  in  the  sixth  volume  of  his  magnificent  compilation.  In  it 
he  exipresses  an  honest  satisfaction  at  being  the  first  to  give  Sahagun's  work 
to  tiie  world.  But  in  this  supposition  he  was  mistaken.  The  very  year  pre- 
ceding, an  edition  of  it,  with,  aiinotations,  aj^peared  in  Mexico,  in  three  vol- 
umes 8vo.  It  was  prepared  by  Ilustamante, — a  scholar  to  whose  editorial 
activity  his  country  is  largely  indebted. — from  a  copy  of  the  Muiroz  manu- 
script which  came  into  his  p')ssession.  Thus  this  remarkable  work,  which 
was  denied  the  honors  of  the  press  during  the  author's  lifetime,  after  passing 
into  oblivion,  reappcired,  at  the  distance  of  near'v  three  centuries,  not  in  his 
own  country,  but  in  foreign  lands  widely  reniote'froin  c;ich  ofhei ,  and  that, 
almost  simultaneously.  The  story  is  exirnoiflinarv  though  unhappily  not  so 
extraordinary  in  Spain  ns  it  would  be  eNewhtre. 

S.ihagun  divided  his  history  into  twt  i  vc  books.  The  first  eleven  are  occupied 
w:i:i  the  social  institutions  of  Mex'co.  and  tlie  last  with  the  Conquest.  (_>n 
thfj  religion  of  the  countrv  he  is  p.u  tirnl.ii  Iv  fall.  His  great  object  evidently 
was.  to  give  a  clear  view  of  it,-,  juvtholo;.',-,  and  of  the  burdensome  ritual 
which  bel(;n[;cd  to  it.  Religion  entered  so  ir.timately  into  the  most  private 
concern-  arid  usages  of  the  .Azi'-r^,  that  Srilvigun's  work  must  be  .7  text-book 
ff,r  »vr.T.-  -':,.i,.;-,,  ,,f  t|,(.;r  :i!>t'f]uiiics.  Toro 'i(,:mada  availed  Ivimself  of  a  man- 
uscript copy,  wiiich  fell    into  hi^  himils  before  it  was  '^"nt   to  Spain,  to  enrich 


g2  AZTEC  CIVILIZATION'. 

his  own  pages, —  ?  circumstance  more  fortunate  for  his  readers  than  for 
Sahao'un's  reputa'..;).!,  whose  work,  now  that  it  is  published,  loses  much  of 
the  originality  and  interest  which  would  otherwise  attach  to  it.  In  one  re- 
spect it  is  invaluable ;  as  presenting  a  complete  collection  of  the  various 
forms  of  prayer,  accommodated  to  every  possible  emergency,  in  use  by  the 
Mexicans.  They  are  often  clothed  in  dignified  and  beautiful  language,  show- 
ing, that  sublime  speculative  tenets  are  quite  compatible  with  the  most  de- 
grading practices  of  superstition.  It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  we  have 
not  the  eighteen  hymns,  inserted  by  the  author  in  his  book,  which  would 
have  particular  interest,  as  the  only  specimen  of  devotional  poetry  preserved 
of  the  Aztecs.  The  hieroglyphical  paintings,  which  accompanied  the  text, 
are  also  missing.  If  they  have  escaped  the  hands  of  fanaticism,  both  may 
reappear  at  some  future  day. 

Sahagun  produced  several  other  works,  of  a  religious  or  philological  char- 
acter.  Some  of  these  were  voluminous,  but  none  have  been  printed.  He 
lived  to  a  very  advanced  age,  closing  a  life  of  activity  and  usefulness,  in  1590, 
in  the  capital  of  Mexico.  His  remains  were  followed  to  the  tomb  by  «; 
numerous  concourse  of  his  own  coimtrynien,  and  of  the  natives,  who  lament- 
ed in  him  the  loss  of  unaffected  piety,  benevolence,  and  learning. 


MEXICAN  HIEROGLYFHIC,  i^x 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Mexican  Hieroglyphics. — M  axl-scrtpts.-— Arithmetic— 

Chronolugv. — Astro  \MjMv. 

It  is  a  relief  to  turn  I'loni  the  gloomy  pages  of  tlie  preceding 
chapter,  lo  a  brighter  side  of  the  picture,  and  to  contemplate  the 
same  nation  in  its  generous  struggle  to  raise  itself  from  a  state 
of  barbarism,  and  to  take  a  positive  rank  in  the  scale  of  civiliza- 
tion. It  is  not  the  less  interesting,  that  these  efforts  were  made 
on  an  entirely  new  theatre  of  action,  apart  from  those  influences 
that  operate  in  the  Old  World  ;  the  inhabitants  of  which,  form- 
ing one  great  brotherhood  of  nations,  are  knit  together  by  sym- 
pathies, that  make  the  faintest  spark  of  knowledge,  struck  out 
in  one  quarter,  spread  gradually  wider  and  wider,  until  it  has 
diffused  a  cheering  light  over  the  remotest.  It  is  curious  to 
observe  the  human  mind,  in  this  new  position,  conforming  to 
the  same  laws  as  on  the  ancient  continent,  and  taking  a  similar 
direction  in  its  first  inquiries  after  truth, — so  similar,  indeed,  as, 
although  not  warranting,  perhaps,  the  idea  of  imitation,  to 
suggest,  at  least,  that  of  a  common  origin. 

In  the  eastern  hemisphere,  we  find  some  nations,  as  the 
Greeks,  for  instance,  early  smitten  with  such  a  love  of  the  beau- 
tiful as  to  be  unwilling  to  dispense  with  it,  even  in  the  graver 
productions  of  science  ;  and  other  nations,  again,  proposing  a 
severer  end  to  themselves,  to  which  even  imagination  and  elegant 
art  were  made  subservient.  The  productions  of  such  a  people 
must  be  criticised,  not  by  the  ordinary  rules  of  taste,  but  by  their 
adaptation  to  the  peculiar  end  for  which  they  were  designed, 
Such  were  the  Egyptians  in  the  Old  World, ^  and  the  Mexicans 
in  the  New.  We  have  already  had  occasion  to  notice  the  re- 
semblance borne  by  the  latter  nation  to  the  former  in  their  re- 
ligious economy.  We  shall  be  more  struck  with  it  in  their 
scientific  culture,  especially  their  hieroglyphical  writing  and  their 
astronomy. 

1  "  An  Egyptian  temple,"  .^ays  Dcii<;ii,  strikingly,  "  is  an  open  volume,  in 
which  the  teaching's  of  science,  innrality,  and  the  arts  are  recorded.  Every 
thing  seems  to  speak  one  and  the  same  language,  and  breathes  one  and  tha 
»amc  spirit."     The  passage  is  cited  by  Ileeren,  Hist.  Kes..  vol.  V,  p.  i^ii. 


g^  AZTEC  civilization: 

To  describ'  xtion'-  :.id  events  by  delineating  visible  objects 
seems  to  be  a  natural  suggestion,  and  is  practised,  after  a  certain 
fashion,  by  the  rudest  savages.  The  North  American  Indian 
carves  an  arrow  on  the  bark  of  trees  to  show  his  followers  the 
direction  of  his  march,  and  some  other  sign  to  show  the  success 
of  his  expeditions.  But  to  paint  intelligibly  a  consecutive  series 
of  these  actions— forming  what  Warburton  has  happily  called 
picture-writing  - — requires  a  combination  of  ideas,  that  amount? 
to  a  positively  intellectual  effort.  Yet  further,  when  the  object 
of  the  painter,  instead  of  being  limited  to  the  present,  is,  to  pen- 
etrate  the  past,  and  to  gather  from  its  dark  recesses  lessons  q\ 
instruction  for  coming  generations,  we  see  the  dawnings  of  a 
liierary  culture, — and  recognize  the  proof  of  a  decided  civiliza^ 
tion  in  the  attempt  itself,  however  imperfectly  it  may  be  executed. 

The  literal  imitation  of  objects  will  not  answer  for  this  more 
complex  and  extended  plan.  It  would  occupy  too  much  space, 
as  well  as  time,  in  the  execution.  It  then  becomes  necessary  to 
abridge  the  pictures,  to  confine  the  drawing  to  outlines,  or  to 
such  prominent  parts  of  the  bodies  delineated,  as  may  readily 
suggest  the  whole.  This  is  the  representative  or  ^figurative  wnimg, 
which  forms  the  lowest  stage  of  hieroglyphics. 

But  there  are  things  which  have  no  type  in  the  material  world  ; 
abstract  ideas,  which  can  only  be  represented  by  visible  objects 
supposed  to  have  some  quality  analogous  to  the  idea  intended. 
This  C'.stitutes  symbolical  writing,  the  most  difficult  of  all  to  the 
interpreter  since  the  analogy  between  the  material  and  immaterial 
object  is  often  purely  fanciful,  or  local  in  its  application.  Wo, 
for  instance,  could  suspect  the  association  which  made  a  beetle 
represent  the  universe,  as  with  the  Egyptians,  or  a  serpent  typify 
time,  as  with  the  Aztecs  ? 

The  third  and  last  division  is  the  phonetic,  in  which  signs  are 
made  to  represent  sounds,  either  entire  words,  or  parts  of  them. 
This  is  the  nearest  approach  of  the  hieroglyphica!  series  to  that 
beautiful  invention,  the  alphabet,  by  which  language  is  resolved 
into  its  elem.entary  sounds,  and  an  apparatus  supplied  for  easily 
and  accurately  expressing  the  most  delicate  shades  of  thought. 

The  Egyptians  were  well  skilled  in  all  three  kinds  of  hierogly- 
phics. But,  although  their  public  monuments  display  the  first 
class,  in  their  ordinary  intercourse  and  written  records,  it  is  now 
certain,  they  almost  wholly  relied  on  the  phonetic  character. 
Strange,  that,  having  thus  broken  down  the  thin  partition  which 
divided  them  from  an   alphabet,  their   latest  monuments  should 

*  Divine  Legation,  ap.  Works,  (London,  1811,)  vol.  IV.  b.    4.  sec.  4. 
The  bishop  of  Gloucester,  in  his  comparison  of  the  various  hieroglyphical 
•yst«nns  of  tt*"  world,  shows  his  characteristic  sagacity  and  boldness  by  an. 


MEXICAN  HIEROGL  YPHICS.  85 

exhibit  no  nearer  approach  to  it  than  their  earliest.  ^  The 
Aztecs,  also,  were  acquainted  with  the  several  varielies  of  hiero- 
glyphics. But  they  relied  on  the  figurative  infinitely  more  than 
on  the  others.  The  Egyptians  were  at  the  top  of  the  scale,  the 
Aztecs  at  the  bottom. 

In  casting  the  eye  over  a  Mexican  manuscript,  or  map,  as  it 
is  called,  one  is  struck  with  the  grotesque  caricatures  it  exhibits 
of  the  human  figure  ;  monstrous,  overgrown  heads,  on  puny,  mis- 
shapen bodies,  which  are  themselves  hard  and  angular  in  their 
outlines,  and  without  the  least  skill  in  composition.  On  closer 
inspection,  however,  it  is  obvious  that  it  is  not  so  much  a  rude 
attempt  to  delineate  nature,  as  a  conventional  symbol,  to  express 
the  idea  in  the  most  clear  and  forcible  manner;  in  the  same 
way  as  the  pieces  of  similar  value  on  a  chess-board,  while  they 
correspond  with  one  another  in  form,  bear  little  resemblance, 
usually,  to  the  objects  they  represent.  Those  parts  of  the  figure 
are  most  distinctly  traced,  which  are  the  most  important.  So, 
also,  the  coloring,  instead  of  the  delicate  gradations  of  nature, 
exhibits  only  gaudy  and  violent  contrasts,  such  as  may  produce 
the  most  vivid  impression.  "  For  even  colors,"  as  Gama 
observes,  ''speak  in  the  Aztec  hieroglyphics."* 

But  in  the  execution  of  all  this  the  Mexicans  were  much  in- 
ferior to  the  Egyptians.  The  drawing  of  the  latter,  indeed,  are 
exceedingly  defective,  when  criticised  by  the  rules  of  art ;  for 
they  were  as  ignorant  of  perspective  as  the  Chinese,  and  only 
exhibited  the  head  in  profile,  with  the  eye  in  the  centre,  and 
with  total  absence  of  expression.  But  they  handled  the  pencil 
more  gracefully  than  the  Aztecs,  were  more  true  to  the  natural 
forms  of  objects,  and,  above  all.  showed  great  superiority  in 
abridging  the  original  figure  by  giving  only  the  outline,  or  some 
characteristic  or  essential  feature.  This  simplified  the  process, 
and  facilitated    the    communication    of  thought.     An    P^gyptian 

nouncing  opinions  little  credited  then,  though  since  established.  He  affirmed 
the  existence  of  an  EgviUian  alphabet,  but  was  not  aware  of  the  phonetic 
property  of  hieroglyphics, — the  great  literary  discovery  of  our  age. 

''*  It  appears  that  the  hieroglyphics  on  the  most  recent  monuments  of 
Egypt  contain  no  larger  infusion  of  phonetic  characters  than  those  which 
existed  eighteen  centuries  before  Christ;  showing  no  advance,  in  this  respect, 
for  twenty-two  hunrlrefl  vears  !  (See  Champollion,  Precis  du  Svsteme  Hiero- 
glyphiquc  des  Anciens  Kgyptiens,  (Paris,  1834,)  pp.  242,  2.S[,)  It  may  seem 
more  strange  that  the  enchorial  alphabet,  so  much  more  commodious,  should 
not  have  been  substituted.  But  the  l<".gvptians  were  familiar  with  their 
hieroglyphics  from  infancy,  which,  moreover,  took  the  fancies  of  the  most 
illiterate,  probably  in  the  same  manner  as  our  children  are  attracted  and 
taught  by  the  picture-alphabets  in  an  ordinary  spelling-book. 

^  Descripcion  Hist4rica  y  Cronologica  de  las  Dos  Piedras,  (Mexico,  1833,) 
Parte  2,  j).  39. 


15  AZTEC  CIVILIZATION. 

text  has  almost  the  appearance  of  alphabetical  writing  in  its  re^ 
guiar  lines  of  minute  figures.  A  Mexican  text  book  looks  usually 
like  a  collection  of  pictures,  each  one  forming  the  subject  of  a 
separate  study.  This  is  particularly  the  case  with  the  delinea- 
tions of  mythology ;  in  which  the  story  is  told  by  a  conglomera- 
tion of  symbols,  that  rnay  remind  one  more  of  the  mysterious 
anaglyphs  sculptured  on  the  temples  of  the  Egyptians,  than  of 
their  written  records. 

The  Aztecs  had  various  emblems  for  expressing  suck  things 
as,  from  their  nature,  could  not  be  directly  represented  by  the 
painter;  as,  for  example,  the  years,  months,  days,  the  seasons, 
the  elements,  the  heavens,  and  the  like.  A  "  tongue  "  denoted 
speaking;  a  "  foot-print,""  travelling;  a  "  man  sitting  on  the 
ground,''  an  earthquake.  These  symbols  were  often  very 
arbitrary,  varying  with  the  caprice  of  the  writer ;  and  it  requires 
a  nice  discrimination  to  interpret  thern,  as  a  slight  change  in  the 
former  position  of  the  figure  intimated  a  very  different  mean- 
ing.i  An  ingenious  writer  asserts  that  the  priests  devised 
secret  symbolic  characters  for  the  record  of  their  religious 
mysteries.  It  is  possible.  But  the  researches  of  Champoilion 
lead  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  similar  opinion,  formerly  en- 
tertained respecting  the  Egyptian  hieroglyphics,  is  without 
foundation," 

Lastly,  they  employed,  as  above  stated,  phonetic  signs,  though 
these  were  chiefly  confined  to  the  names  of  persons  and  places; 
which,  being  derived  from  some  circumstance,  or  characteristic 
quality,  were  accommodated  to  the  hieroglyphical  system. 
Thus  the  town  Cimatlan  was  compounded  of  cimatl.,  a  "  root," 
v/hich  grew  near  it,  and  tlan,  signifying  "  near  "  ;  Tlaxcallan 
meant  *'  the  place  of  bread,"  from  its  rich  fields  of  corn : 
Huexotzi7ico,  "  a  place  surrounded  by  willows."  The  names  of 
persons  were  often  significant  of  their  adventures  and  achieve- 
ments. That  of  the  great  Tezcucan  prince,  Nezahualcoyotl, 
signified    '•  hungrv  fox."    intimating   his    sagacity,  and   his    dis- 

'■"  Ibid.,  pp.  32.  44. — Acosta,  lib.  6.  cap.  7. 

Tlie  continuation  of  Gama's  work,  recently  edited  by  Bustamante,  in 
Mexico,  contains,  among  other  things,  some  interesting  remarks  on  the  Aztec 
^  ,  -ogivphics,  The  editor  has  rendered  a  good  service  by  this  further  publi- 
ca'.ion  of  the  writings  of  this  estimable  scholar,  who  has  done  more  than  any 
of  i,;s  coLi  rrvmen  to  explain  the  mysteries  of  Aztec  science. 
f.:in:a,  Descripcion.  Parte  2,  p.  32. 

\\  arbur;');i,  with  his  usual  penetration,  rejects  the  idea  of  mystery  in 
the  figurative  hieroglyphics.  (Divine  Legation,  b.  4,,  sec.  4.)  If  there  wa» 
any  mvstery  rcservcci  for  the  initiated,  ChampolIior\  t'..nks  it  mav  have  been 
thf  sv-,:em  of  tif  ai  apivphs.  ( Prt^cis.  p.  360. 1  V  ny  mav  not  this  be  true, 
likewise,  o*^  iht  i.ionhtMiUs  s,  mijolica!  combinations  which  repre*ented  tb« 
Mexican  d€Jtie^  .- 


.\rExrcAr\r  hif.rogl  yphics.  87 

tresses  in  early  lifeJ  The  emblems  of  such  names  were  no 
sooner  seen,  than  they  suggested  to  every  Mexican  the  person 
and  place  intended ;  and,  when  painted  on  their  shields,  or 
embroidered  on  their  banners,  became  the  armorial  bearings,  by 
which  city  and  chieftain  were  distinguished,  as  in  Europe,  in 
the  age  of  chivalry.** 

But,  although  the  Aztecs  were  instructed  in  all  the  varieties 
of  hieroglyphical  painting,  they  chiefly  resorted  to  the  clumsy 
method  of  direct  representation.  Had  their  empire  lasted,  like 
thi  Egyptian,  several  thousand  instead  of  the  brief  space  of  two 
hundred  years,  they  would,  doubtless,  like  them,  have  advanced 
to  the  more  frequent  use  of  the  phonetic  writing.  But,  before 
they  could  be  made  acquainted  with  the  capabilities  of  their 
own  system,  the  Spanish  Conquest,  by  introducing  the  European 
alphabet,  supplied  their  scholars  with  a  more  perfect  contriv- 
ance for  expressing  thought,  which  soon  supplanted  the  ancient 
pictorial  character.'-* 

Clumsy  as  it  was.  however,  the  Aztec  picture-writing  seems 
to  have  been  adequate  to  the  demands  of  the  nation,  in  their 
ivnperfect  state  of  civilization.  By  means  of  it  were  recorded 
all  their  laws,  and  even  their  regulations  for  domestic  economy  ; 
their  tribute-rolls,  specifying  the  imposts  of  the  various  towns  ; 
their  mythology,  calendars,  and  rituals ;  their  political  annals, 
carried  back  to  a  period  long  before  the  foundation  of  the  city. 
They  digested  a  complete  system  of  chronology,  and  could 
specify  with  accuracy  the  dates  of  the  most  important  events  in 
their  history  ;  the  year  being  inscribed  on  the  margin,  against 
the  particular  circumstance  recorded.  It  is  true,  history,  thus 
executed,  must  necessarily  be  vague  and  fragmentary.  Only  a 
few  leading  incidents  could  be  presented.  But  in  this  it  did 
not  differ  much  from  the  monkish  chronicles  of  the  dark  ages, 


'  Boturini,  Idea,  pp.  77-S3. — Gama,  Descripcion.  Parte  2,  pp.  34-43. 

Heeren  is  not  awaie,  or  does  not  alk)\v,  that  the  Mexicans  used  phonetic 
characters  of  any  kind.  (IFisl.  Res,,  vol.  V.  p.  45.—)  Thev,  indeed,  reversed 
the  usual  order  of  ]5roceeding,  and,  instead  of  adapting  the  hieroglvjihic  to 
the  name  of  the  object,  accommodated  tlie  name  of  tiie  object  to  the  hiero- 
gl}l)hic.  This  of  course,  could  not  admit  of  great  extension.  We  find  phonetic 
characters,  however,  applied,  in  some  instances,  to  common,  as  well  as 
proper  names. 

"  lioturini,  Idea,  nbi  supra. 

*  Clavigero  has  given  a  catalogue  of  the  Mexican  historians  of  the  six- 
teenth century, — some  of  whom  are  often  cited  in  this  history, — which  bears 
honorable  testimony  to  the  literary  ardor  and  intelligence  of  the  native  raooK. 
Stor.  del  Messico,  torn.  I.,  Pref. — Also,  Gama,  Descripcion,  Parte  t, 
pcMsim. 


88  AZTEC  CIVILIZATION. 

which  often  dispose  of  years  in  a  few  brief  sentences ; — quite 

long  enough  for  the  annals  of  barbarians.^" 

In  order  to  estimate  aright  the  picture-writing  of  the  Aztecs 
one  must  regard  it  in  connexion  with  oral  tradition,  to  which  it 
was  auxiliary.  In  the  colleges  of  the  priests  the  youth  were 
instructed  in  astronomy,  history,  mythology,  &c.  ;  and  those 
who  were  to  follow  the  profession  of  hieroglyphical  painting 
were  taught  the  application  of  the  characters  appropriated  to 
each  of  these  branches.  In  an  historical  work,  one  had  charge 
of  the  chronology,  another  of  the  events.  Every  part  of  the 
labor  was  thus  mechanically  distributed."  The  pupils,  instructed 
in  all  that  was  before  known  in  their  several  departments,  were 
prepared  to  extend  still  further  the  boundaries  of  their  imper- 
fect science.  The  hieroglyphics  served  as  a  sort  of  stenography, 
a  collection  of  notes,  suggesting  to  the  initiated  much  more 
than  could  be  conveyed  by  a  literal  interpretation.  This  com- 
bination of  the  written  and  the  oral  comprehended  what  may  be 
called  the  literature  of  the  Aztecs. -"^ 

^'  M.  cle  Humboldt's  remark,  that  the  Aztec  annals,  from  the  close  of  the 

eleventh  century,  "  exhibit  the  greatest  method,  and  astonishing  minuteness," 
(Vues  des  Cordilleres,  p.  137,)  must  be  received  with  some  qualification. 
The  reader  would  scarcely  understand  from  it,  that  there  are  rarely  more 
than  one  or  two  facts  recorded  in  any  year,  and  sometimes  not  one  in  a  dozen 
or  more.  The  necessary  looseness  and  uncertainty  of  these  historical 
records  are  made  apparent  by  the  remarks  of  the  Spanish  interpreter  of  the 
Mendoza  codex,  who  tells  us  that  the  natives  to  whom  it  was  submitted 
were  very  long  in  coming  to  an  agreement  about  the  proper  signification  of 
the  paintings.     Antiq.  of  Mexico,  vol.  VT  p.  87, 

'^  Gama,  Descripcion,  Parte  2,  p.  30. — Acosta,  lib.  6  cap.  7. 

"  Tenian  para  cada  genero,"  says  Ixtlilxochitl,  "  sus  Escritores,  unos  que 
traiaban.  de  los  Anales,  ponienclo  por  su  orden  las  cosas  que  acaecian  en  cada 
U!i  an  ..,  con  dia,  mes,  y  hora  ;  otros  tenian  a  su  cargo  las  Genealogias,  y 
desce.idencia  del  los  Reyes,  Senores,  v  Personas  de  linaje,  asentando  por 
cuen'a  v  rizjn  los  que  nacian,  v  borraban  los  que  morian  con  la  misma 
'"utn  I  I         tcnun    cuidado  de  las  pinturas,    de   los  terminos,   limites,  y 

moj  L  i^  1  hs  Cmdades,  Provincias,  Pueblos,  v  Lugares,  y  de  las  suertes, 
y  rtp  ui  n  )  de  las  tierras,  cuvas  cran,  v  a  quien  pertenecian ;  otros  de 
l0'>    '  1      e^,  ritos.  v  seremonias  cjue    usaban."      Hist.    Chicli.,  MS., 

Pr      I  C 

Li    K   n^  t )  Boturini,  the    ancient  Mexicans  were  acquainted  with    the 


I  I    II 


d  of    recording  events,  bv  means  of    the    quippus, — knotted 
1    us  cjlors, — which  were  afterwards   superseded  by  hieroglyph- 
(Itea,    p.    86.)      lie    could    discover,    however,  but    a    single 
'    '  t  met  with  in  Thiscala.  and  that  had  nearly  fallen  to  pieces 
1^1       h    suggests  that    it  mav  have  been  only  a   wampum  belt, 
n  among    our  North    America, •    Indians.      (Researches,  p. 
2  I  I    c  1  re  is  plausible  enough.      St    .igs  of  wampum,  of    various 

C"  V.    I      I  ^    1  1  v  the  latter    people  for  t lie  similar  purpose  of    registering 

C^*"""^         '  ;ed  fact,    rccrrded  l)v  ]-!orurini,    is    hardlv  sufficient — un- 

•uppcit*-!,  a     <ii    IS    I    k!.<  w.    bv    aiiv'<i!c'    tes!imonv— to    establish    tb* 


su 


MA  A'L'SCAVr  TS.  89 

Their   manuscripts   i^-ere    made    of    different    materials, —  of 

cotion  cloth,  or  ski'"  .  .ely  prepared  ;  of  a  composition  of  silk 
and  gum  ;  but,  for  the  most  part,  of  a  fine  fabric  from  the  leaves 
of  the  aloe,  agava  Americana,  called  by  the  natives,  maguey, 
which  grows  luxuriantly  over  the  table-lands  of  Mexico.  A 
sort  of  paper  was  made  from  it,  resembling  somewhat  the 
Egyptian /(Z/^'r/^j',^''  which,  when  properly  dressed  and  polished, 
is  said  to  have  been  more  soft  and  beautiful  than  parchment. 
Some  of  the  specimens,  still  existing,  exhibit  their  original  fresh* 
ness,  and  the  paintings  on  them  retain  their  brilliancy  of  colors. 
They  were  sometimes  done  up  into  rolls,  but  more  frequently 
into  volumes,  of  moderate  size,  in  which  the  paper  was  shut  up, 
like  a  folding-screen,  with  a  leaf  or  tablet  of  wood  at  each  ex- 
tremity, that  gave  the  whole,  when  closed,  the  appearance  of  a 
book.  The  length  of  the  strips  was  determined  only  by  con- 
venience. As  the  pages  might  be  read  and  referred  to  sepa- 
rately, this  form  had  obvious  advantages  over  the  rolls  of  the 
ancients.^* 

At  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards,  great  quantities  of 
these  manuscripts  were  treasured  up  in  the  country.  Numerous 
persons  were  employed  in  painting,  and  the  dexterity  of  their 
operations  excited  the  astonishment  of  the  Conquerors.  Un- 
fortunately, this  was  mingled  with  other,  and  unworthy  feelings. 
The  strange,  unknown  characters  inscribed  on  them  excited  sus- 
picion. They  were  looked  on  as  magic  scrolls;  and  were  re- 
garded in  the  same  light  with  the  idols  and  temples,  as  the 
symbols  of  a  pestilent  supeistition,  that  must  be  extirpated. 
The  first  archbishop  of  Mexico,  Don  Juan  de  Zumarraga, — a 
name  that  -houkl  be  as  immortal  as  that  of  Omar. — collected 
these  paintings  from  every  quarter,  especially  from  Tezcuco,  the 

existence  of  qui/'pits  among  the  Aztecs,  who  had  but  little  in  common  with 
the  Peruvians. 

^*  J'liny,  who  gives  a  minute  account  of  i\\&  papyrus  reed  of  Egvpt,  notices 
the  vari(jus  manufactures  obtained  from  it,  as  ropes,  cloth,  paper,  &c.  It 
also  served  as  a  thatch  for  the  roofs  of  houses,  and  as  food  and  drink  for  the 
natives.  (Hist.  2sat.,  lib.  11,  caj).  20-22.)  It  is  singular  that  the  American 
agave,  a  plant  so  totally  different,  should  also  have  been  ajjpiicd  to  all  these 
fario\is  uses. 

"  I-or(,-n/.ana,  Hist,  de  Nue\a  ivspana,  \).  '6. — Boiurini,  Ide.M  p-  96. — 
Humboldt,  Vues  des  (.'ordilitires,  p.  52.  —  I'eter  .Martyr  Anglcriiis,  De  Orbe 
Novo,  (Compluti,  1530,)  rjcc.  3,  cap.  <S ;  dec.   q,  raii.   10. 

Martyr  has  given  a  uiiniitc  descrii)iii;ii  ol  tnti  Indian  maps,  sent  home 
soon  after  the  .nvasinn  of  \(  w  Si'iin.  His  inijuisitive  mind  was  struck  will. 
the  evidence  tiicy  afff)rded  of  a  pcjsitive  civilization.  Ribera,  the  friend  ol 
Cortes,  brought  b.ick  a  stoiy,  that  the  paintings  were  designed  as  patteins 
ffjr  ernl)rr)i(!erers  and  j(;wellcrs.  ]5ut  Martyr  had  been  in  Egypit.  pnd  he  felt 
little  iifsitation  in  placing  the  Indian  drawings  in  the  same  class  with  those  hr 
had  seen  on  the  obelisks  ai.d  temples  of  that  country. 


fO 


AZTEC  CIVILIZATION. 


most  cultivated  capital  in  Anahuac,  and  the  great  depository  of 
the  national  archives.  He  then  caused  them  to  be  piled  up  in  a 
"mountain-heap," — as  it  is  called  by  the  Spanish  writers  them- 
selves,— in  the  market-place  of  Tlatelolco,  and  reduced  them  all 
to  ashes  !^  His  greater  countryman,  Archbishop  Ximenes,  had 
celebrated  a  similar  auto-da-fe  of  Arabic  manuscripts,  in  Granada, 
some  twenty  years  before.  Never  did  fanaticism  achieve  two 
more  signal  triumphs,  than  by  the  annihilation  of  so  many  cu- 
rious monuments  of  human  ingenuity  and  learning. ^"^ 

The  unlettered  soldiers  were  not  slow  in  imitating  the  exam- 
ple of  their  prelate.  Every  chart  and  volume  which  fell  into 
their  hands  was  wantonly  destroyed ;  so  that,  whpu  the  scholars 
of  a  later  and  more  enlightened  age  anxiously  sought  to  recover 
some  of  these  memorials  of  civilization,  nearly  all  had  perished, 
and  the  few  surviving  were  jealously  hidden  by  the  natives.^'' 
Through  the  indefatigable  labors  of  a  private  individual,  how- 
ever, a  considerable  collection  was  eventually  deposited  in  the 
archives  of  Mexico  ;  but  was  so  little  heeded  there,  that  some 
were  plundered,  others  decayed  piecemeal  from  the  damps  and 
mildews,  and  others,  again,  were  used  up  as  waste-paper.^^  We 
contemplate  with  indignation  the  cruelties  inflicted  by  the  early 
conquerors.  But  indignation  is  qualified  with  contempt,  when 
we  see  them  thus  ruthlessly  trampling  out  the  spark  of  knowl- 
edge, the  common  boon  and  property  of  all  mankind.  We  may 
well  doubt,  which  has  the  strongest  claims  to  civilization,  the 
victor,  or  the  vanquished, 

A  few  of  the  Mexican  manuscripts  have  found  their  way,  from 
time  to  time,  to  Europe,  and  are  carefully  preserved  in  the  pub- 
lic libraries  of  its  capitals.  They  are  brought  together  in  the 
magnificent  work  of  Lord  Kingsborough ;  but  not  one  is  there 
from  Spain.  The  most  important  of  them,  for  the  light  it 
throws  on  ilie  Aztec  institutions,  is  the  Mendoza  Codex ;  which, 
after  its  mysterious  disappearance  for  more  than  a  century,  has 

J*  Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich..  MS..  Prologo.— Idem,  Sum.  Relac,  MS. 

Writers  are  not  agreed  whether  the  contlagraiion  t(jok  place  in  the  square 
of  Tlatelolco  or  Tezcuco.  Comj').  C,"!avigero.  Stor.  del  Messico,  torn.  II. 
p.  i88,  and  Bustamante's  Pref.  to  Ixtlilxochitl,  Cruautes  des  Conquerans, 
trad,  de  Ternaux,  p.  xvii. 

"^  It  has  been  my  lot  to  record  both  these  displays  of  human  infirmity,  so 
humbling  to  the  pride  of  intellect.  .See  the  History  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella,  Part  2.  chap.  6. 

'"  Saliagun,  Hi>t.  de  Nueva-Kspana,  lib.  10,  cap.  27. — Bustamante, 
Mafianas  de  Alameda,   (Me'xico,  iS;,6. )  tom.  II.  Prologo. 

"*  The  enlightened  governor,  Don  Lorenzo  Zavala  sold  the  documents  in 
the  archives  of  the  .Audience  of  Mexico,  according  to  Bustamante,  as  wrapping 
paper,  to  apothecaries,  shopkeepers,  and  rocket-makers  1  Boturini's  noble 
collection  has  not  farsd  much  better. 


MAXrSCKIPTS. 


91 


at  length  reappeared  in  the  Bodleian  library  at  Oxford.  It  has 
been  several  times  engraved. i^  The  most  brilliant  in  coloring, 
probably,  is  the  Borgian  collection,  in  Rome.''^^  The  most  curi- 
ous, however,  is  the  Dresden  Codex,  which  has  excited  less  at- 
tention than  it  deserves.  Although  usually  classed  among  Mex- 
ican manuscripts,  it  bears  little  resemblance  to  them  in  its  exe- 
cution ;  the  figures  of  objects  are  more  delicately  drawn,  and 
the  characters,  unlike  the  Mexican,  appear  to  be  purely  arbi- 
trary, and  are  possibly  phonetic.--'     Their  regular  arrangement 

^^  The  history  of  this  famous  collection  is  familiar  to  scholars.  It  was 
«ent  to  the  Emperor  Charles  the  Fifth,  not  long  after  the  Conquest,  bv  the 
viceroy  Mendoza,  Marques  de  Mondejar.  The  vessel  fell  into  the  hands  of 
a  French  cruiser,  and  the  manuscript  was  taken  to  Paris.  It  was  afterwards 
bouu;ht  bv  the  chaplain  of  the  English  embassy,  and,  coming  into  the  pos- 
session of  the  antiquary  Purchas,  was  engraved,  in  ex.'enso,  bv  him,  in  the 
third  volume  of  his  ''Pilgrimage."  After  its  publication,  in  1625,  the  Aztec 
original  lost  its  importance,  and  fell  into  oblivion  so  completely,  that,  when 
at  length  the  public  curiosity  was  excited  in  regard  to  its  fate,  no  trace  of  U 
could  be  discovered.  Many  were  the  speculations  of  scholars,  at  home  and 
abroad,  resj^ecting  it,  and  Dr.  Robertson  settled  the  question  as  to  its  exis- 
tence in  England,  by  declaring  that  there  was  no  Mexican  relic  in  that 
country,  except  a  golden  goblet  of  Montezuma.  (History  of  America,  (Lon- 
don, 1796,)  vol.  III.  p.  370.)  Nevertheless,  the  identical  Codex,  and  several 
other  Alexican  paintings,  have  been  since  discovered  in  the  Bodleian  library. 
The  circumstance  has  brought  some  obloquy  on  the  historian,  who,  while 
prying  into  the  collections  of  Vienna  and  the  Escurial,  could  be  so  blind  to 
those  under  his  own  eyes.  The  over-sight  will  not  appear  so  extraordinary 
to  a  thorough-bred  collector,  whether  of  manuscripts,  or  medals,  or  any  other 
rarity.  The  Mendoza  Codex  is,  after  all,  but  a  copy,  coarsely  done  with  a  pen 
on  European  paper.  Another  copy,  fronr  which.  Archbishop  Eorcnzana  en- 
graved his  tribute-rolls,  in  Mexico,  existed  in  Boturini's  collection.  A  third 
is  in  the  Escurial,  according  to  the  Marcpiess  of  Spineto.  (Lecttires  on  the 
Fllenients  of  Hieroglyphics,  (London.)  lect.  7.)  This  may  possibly  be  the 
original  jjaititing.  The  entire  Codex,  copied  from  the  Bodleian  maps,  with 
its  Spanish  and  English  interpretations  is  included  in  the  noble  compilation 
of  Lord  Kingsborou'^h.  (Vols.  L,  V..  VI.)  It  is  distributed  into  three  parts; 
embracing  the  civil  history  of  the  nation,  the  tributes  paid  by  the  cities,  and 
the  domestic  economy  and  discipline  of  the  Mexicans;  and,  from  the  fulness 
of  the  interpretarion,  is  of  much  importance  in  regard  to  these  several 
topics. 

-'  It  formerly  belonged  to  the  Ciustiniani  familv;  but  was  so  little  <:;ired 
{or,  that  it  was  suffered  to  fall  into  the  mischievous  hands  of  the  -iomesHcs' 
children,  who  made  sundry  attemjjts  to  burn  it,  Fortnnatciv  ir  w.'is  jiainted 
oil  deerskin,  and,  though  somewhat  singed.  Was  not  (ic>lruycd.  i  Humboldt, 
Vues  '-orriilii  res,  ]i.  S9,  et  scq.)  It  is  inipnssi1)lf  t-i  '-.xst  ihe  eve  over  this 
brilliant  as-^emblrige  of  forms  and  colore  without  feeling  how  hopeless  must 
be  the  atterniH  to  recover  a  kcv  t','  tlit;  Aztec  mvthohigicai  s\mbols;  whicli 
are  here  tlistributerl  with  the  svminetrv,  indeed,  but  in  all  the  endless  cim- 
biii.itioiis,  of  the  kaleidoscope.  It  is  in  the  third  volunu;  of  Lord  Kings- 
bnrough's  work. 

-'  Humboldt,  who  has  co])icd  some  pages  of  it  in  his  "  Atlas  PittorestMie," 
intimates  no  doubt  of  its  Aztec  origin.  (Vues  des  Cordill^res.  pp.  266  267. J 
M.  Lc  Noir  even  reads  in  it   an  exposition  of  Mexican  Mythology,  with  occ»- 


^2  AZTEC  civilization: 

is  quite  equal  to  th'  xi'gyptian.  The  whole  infers  a  much  higher 
civilization  than  the  Aztec,  and  offers  abundant  food  for  curious 
speculation.^ 

Some  few  of  these  maps  have  interpretations  annexed  to 
them,  which  were  obtained  from  the  natives  after  the  Conquest.'^ 
The  greater  part  are  without  any,  and  cannot  now  be  unriddled. 
Had  the  Mexicans  made  free  use  of  a  phonetic  alphabet,  it 
might  have  been  originally  easy,  by  mastering  the  comparatively 
few  signs  employed  in  this  kind  of  communication,  to  have  got 
a  permanent  key  to  the  whole.-^  A  brief  inscription  has  fur- 
nished a  clue  to  the  vast  labyrinth  of  Egyptian  hieroglyphics. 
But  the  Aztec  characters,  representing  individuals,  or,  at  most, 
species,  require  to  be  made  out  separately ;  a  hopeless  task,  for 
which  little  aid  is  to  be  expected  from  the  vague  and  general 

sional  analogies  to  that  of  Egypt  and  of  Hindostan.  (Antiquites  Mexicaines, 
torn.  II.,  Introd.)  The  fantastic  forms  of  hieroglyphic  symbols  may  afford 
analogies  for  almost  anythingi 

22  The  history  of  this  Codex,  engraved  entire  in  the  third  volume  of  the 
"Antiquities  of  Mexico,"  goes  no  further  back  than  1739,  when  it  was  pur- 
chased at  Vienna  for  the  Dresden  library.  It  is  made  of  the  American  agave. 
The  figures  painted  on  it  bear  little  resemblance,  either  in  feature  or  form, 
to  the  Mexican.  They  are  surmounted  by  a  sort  of  head-gear,  which  looks 
something  like  a  modern  peruke.  On  the  chin  of  one  we  may  notice  a  beard, 
a  sign  often  used  after  the  conquest  to  denote  a  European.  Many  of  the 
persons  are  sitting  cross-legged.  The  profiles  of  the  faces  and  the  whole 
contour  of  the  limbs,  are  sketched  with  a  spirit  and  freedom,  very  unlike  the 
hard,  angular  outlines  of  the  Aztecs.  The  characters,  also  are  delicately 
traced,  generally  in  an  irregular,  but  circular  form,  and  are  very  minute. 
They  are  arranged,  like  the  Egyptian,  both  horizontally  and  perpendicularly, 
mostly  in  the  former  manner,  and,  from  the  prevalent  direction  of  the  profiles 
would  seem  to  have  been  read  from  right  to  left.  Whether  phonetic  or 
ideographic,  they  are  of  that  compact  and  purely  conventional  sort  which 
belongs  to  a  well-digested  system  for  the  communication  of  thought.  One 
cannot  but  regret,  that  no  trace  shouid  exist  of  the  quarter  whence  ttiis  MS. 
was  obtained;  perhaps,  some  part  of  Central  America;  from  the  region  of 
the  mysterious  races  who  built  the  monuments  of  Mitla  and  Palenque. 
Though,  in  truth,  there  seems  scarcely  more  resemblance  in  the  symbols  to 
the  Palenque  bas-reliefs,  than  to  the  Aztec  paintings. 

'^  There  are  three  of  these;  the  Mendoza  Codex;  the  Telleriano  Rem- 
ensis, — formerly  the  property  of  Archbishop  Tellier, — in  the  Royal  library 
of  Paris;  and  the  Vatican  MS.,  No.  3738.  The  interpretation  of  the  last 
bears  evident  marks  of  its  recent  origin;  probably  as  late  as  the  close  of 
the  sixteenth,  or  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  when  the  ancient 
hieroglyphics  were  read  with  tlie  eye  of  faith,  rather  than  of  reason.  Who- 
ever was  the  commentator,  (comp.  Vues  des  Cordilleres,  pp.  203,  204;  and 
Ant:r|.  of  Mexico,  vol.  VI.  pp.  155,  222,)  he  has  given  such  an  exposition,  as 
shows  the  ol'l  Aztecs  to  have  been  as  orthodox  Christians,  as  any  subjects 
of  tiie  P(jpe. 

^  The  total  number  of  Egyptian  hieroglvphics  discovered  by  Champollion 
amounts  to  864;  and  of  these  i3oonlva're  phonetic,  notwithst4nding  that 
this  kind  of  character  is  used  far  more  frequently  than  both  the  others. 
Precis,  p.  263, — also  .Spineto,  Lectures,  lee.  3. 


ARrTHMETTC. 


9S 


tenor  of  the  few  interpretations  now  existing.  There  was,  as 
already  mentioned,  until  late  in  the  last  century,  a  professor  in 
the  University  of  Mexico,  especially  devoted  to  the  study  of  the 
nati(?nal  picture-writing.  But,  as  this  was  with  a  view  to  legal 
proceedings,  his  information,  probably,  was  limited  to  decipher- 
ing titles.  In  less  than  a  hundred  years  after  the  Conquest, 
the  knowledge  of  the  hieroglyphics  had  so  far  declined,  that  a 
diligent  Tezcucan  writer  complains  he  could  fiiid  in  the  country 
only  two  persons,  both  very  aged,  at  all  competent  to  interpret 
them.^ 

It  is  not  probable,  therefore,  that  the  art  of  reading  these  pic- 
ture-writings will  ever  be  recovered  ;  a  circumstance  certainly 
to  be  regretted.  Not  that  the  records  of  a  semi-civilized  people 
would  be  likely  to  contain  any  new  truth  or  discovery  important 
to  human  comfort  or  progress  ;  but  they  could  scarcely  fail  to 
throw  some  additional  light  on  the  previous  history  of  the  na- 
tion, and  that  of  the  more  polished  people  who  before  occupied 
the  country.  This  would  be  still  more  probable,  if  any  literary- 
relics  of  their  Toltec  predecessors  were  preserved  ;  and  if  report 
be  true,  an  important  compilation  from  this  source  was  extant 
at  the  time  of  the  invasion,  and  may  have  perhaps  contributed 
to  swell  the  holocaust  of  Zumarraga.^  It  is  no  great  stretch  of 
fancy,  to  suppose  that  such  records  might  reveal  the  successive 
links  in  the  mighty  chain  of  migration  of  the  primitive  races, 
and,  by  carrying  us  back  to  the  seat  of  their  possessions  in  the 
Old  World,  would  have   solved  the  mystery  which  h.as  so  long 

2o  Ixtlilxochitl.,  His*..  Chich.,  MS.,  Dedic. 

B'jiuriiii,  who  iraveil"J  iLiuagii  ever  part  of  the  coiimrv,  in  tiie  middle  of 
tliC  'ast  century,  ccuKi  ;iot  meet  witii  an  indi^  idi'.al  who  could  r.fford  him  the 
lea>t  clue  to  the  Aztec  hieroglyphics.  So  completely  had  every  vesti,i:;e  of 
their  ancient  language  been  swept  away  for  the  memory  of  the  natives.  (Idea, 
p,  !i6. )  If  we  are  to  believe  Bustamante,  however,  a  complete  kev  to  the 
"';  'le  system  is,  at  this  moment.  so?fn'whcre  in  Spain.  Tt  was  lairied  home, 
at  the  time  of  the  process  against  father  Mier,  in  1795.  '  '^^  name  01  the 
Mexican  Champollion  who  discovered  it  is  Borunda.  Gama.  nescrincion, 
torn.  II.  p.  -^j^^,  nota. 

■''  I\>uHox!:i.  "the  di\'ine  book."  as  it  was  called..  A  cci  iilirj,  !')  Ixtlil- 
xoc'ii:!.  it  wa'^  composed  bv  a  Tezciu-an  df)ctor,  named  Iluema^zin.  to',\.ird» 
tp.e  close  of  the  seventh  centur\-.  (Relaciones,  MS.;  It  i.'.i'.e  :in  :nc;nmt  of 
th'  migrations  of  his  nation  from  Asia,  of  th.e  various  station.^  o.i  their  jour- 
nev.  iif  their  social  arid  rellLoous  institutions,  their  .■^C!^;>'■e.  ar'-.  A'c. ,  d'C,  a 
^o'.'d  dca'  too  much  for  o!ie  book.  /s;i!c!uvi  pro  in.i  'iiifito.  It  has  never 
been  see;t  by  a  Kuropean.  A  (  opv  is  said  (o  have  been  in  [possession  of  the 
Te:<cuc.in  chroniclers,  on  tlv  taki"/  of  their  cr'Mtal.  'Bustamante,  Cronici 
Mexicatia,  (.\[exi(.:o,  1X22,)  carta  3.  |  Lore}  K ingsborough,  who  can  scent  out 
a  Hebrew  root,  be  it  btiri'  il  11'  ver  so  deep,  has  discovered  that  the  Tioa- 
moxtli  v>-Xi^  the  I'ent.itr'ii.i,.  Thm-,  —  /.-,  nietuis  "divine."  an:o''.  '' paper  "ot 
"book,"  ^w\  rrii'xtH  ••; '/r  ;rf  to  b'-  Moses." — "Divine  Book  of  Moses,"! 
/ntlq.  of  .Mexico,  vo-:.   \  I    p.  20.4,  no   i. 


»^  AZTEC  CIVILIZATION. 

perplexed  the  learned,  in  regard  to  the  settlement  and  civiliza 
tion  of  the  New. 

Besides  the  hieroglyphical  maps,  the  traditions  of  the  country 
were  embodied  in  the  songs  and  hymns,  which,  as  already  men- 
tioned, were  carefully  taught  in  the  public  schools.  These  were 
various,  embracing  the  mythic  legends  of  a  heroic  age,  the  war- 
like achievements  of  their  own,  or  the  softer  tales  of  love  and 
pleasure.'^^  Many  of  them  were  composed  by  scholars  and  per- 
sons of  rank,  and  are  cited  as  affording  the  most  authentic  rec- 
ord of  events.''^  The  Mexican  dialect  was  rich  and  expressive, 
though  inferior  to  the  Tezcucan,  the  most  polished  of  the  idioms 
of  Anahuac.  None  of  the  Aztec  compositions  have  survived, 
but  we  can  form  some  estimate  of  the  general  state  of  poetic 
culture  from  the  odes  which  have  come  down  to  us  from  the 
royal  house  of  Tezcuco.^  Sahagun  has  furnished  us  with  trans- 
lations of  their  more  elaborate  prose,  consisting  of  prayers  and 
public  discourses,  which  give  a  favorable  idea  of  their  elo- 
quence, and  show  that  they  paid  much  attention  to  rhetorical 
effect.  They  are  said  to  have  had,  also,  something  like  theatri- 
cal exhibitions,  of  a  pantomimic  sort,  in  which  the  faces  of  the 
performers  were  covered  with  masks,  and  the  figures  of  birds  or 
animals  were  frequently  represented  ;  an  imitation  to  which  they 
may  have  been  led  by  the  familiar  delineation  of  such  objects  in 
their  hieroglyphics.*"  In  all  this  we  see  the  dawning  of  a  liter- 
ary culture,  surpassed,  however,  by  their  attainments  in  the  se- 
verer walks  of  mathematical  science. 

They  devised  a  system  of  notation  in  their  arithmetic,  suffi- 
ciently simple.  The  first  twenty  numbers  were  expressed  by  a 
corresponding  number  of  dots.  The  first  five  had  specific 
names  ;  after  which  they  were  represented  by  combining  the 
fifth  with  one  of  the  four  preceding ;  as  five  and  one  for  six, 
five  and  two  for  seven,  and  so  on.  Ten  and  fifteen  had  each  a 
separate  name,  which  was  also  combined  with  the  first  four,  to 
express  a  higher  quantity.     These  four,  therefore,  were  the  rad 

^  Boturini,  Idea,  pp.  90-97. — Clavigero,  Stor.  del  Messico.  torn.  II.  pp. 
174-178. 

-"  "  Los  cantos  con  que  las  observaban  Autoies  niuy  graves  en  su  modo 
de  ciencia  y  facultad,  pues  fue'ron  los  mismos  Reyes,  y  de  la  gente  mas  ilustre 
y  entendida,  que  siempre  observuron  y  adquirie'ron  la  verdad,  y  esta  con 
tanta,  y  razon,  quanta  pudieron  tener  los  mas  graves  y  fidedignos  Autoies." 
Ixllilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  PrcSlogo. 

■23  See  Chap.  6,  of  this  Introduction. 

*^  See  some  account  of  these  mummeries  in  ^  ,osta,  (lib.  5,  cap.  30,)— 
alio  Clavigero  (Stor.  del  Messico,  ubi  supra).  Stone  models  of  masks  are 
sometimes  found  among  the  Indian  ruins,  and  engravings  of  them  are  both 
in  Lord  Kingsborough's  work,  and  in  the  Antiquite's  Mexicai«««. 


IHRONOLOGt. 


95 


ical  characters  of  their  oral  arithmetic,  in  the  Same  manner  aO 
they  were  of  the  written  with  the  ancient  Romans  :  a  more  sim- 
ple arrangement,  probably,  than  any  existing  among  Euro- 
peans.^ Twenty  was  expressed  by  a  separate  hieroglyphic, — a 
flag.  Larger  sums  were  reckoned  by  twenties,  and,  in  writing, 
by  repeating  the  number  of  tiags.  The  square  of  twenty,  four 
hundred,  had  a  separate  sign,  that  of  a  plume,  and  so  had  the 
cube  of  twenty,  or  eight  thousand,  which  was  denoted  by  a 
purse,  or  sack.  This  was  the  whole  arithmetical  apparatus  of 
the  Mexicans,  by  the  combination  of  which  they  were  enabled 
to  indicate  any  quantity.  For  greater  expedition,  they  used  to 
denote  fractions  of  the  larger  sums  by  drawing  only  a  part  of 
the  object.  Thus,  half  or  three  fourths  of  a  plume,  or  of  a 
purse,  represented  that  proportion  of  their  respective  sums,  and 
so  on.*^  With  all  this,  the  machinery  will  appear  very  awkward 
to  us,  who  perform  our  operations  with  so  much  ease,  by  means 
of  the  Arabic,  or,  rather,  Indian  ciphers.  It  is  not  much  more 
awkward,  however,  than  the  system  pursued  by  the  great  mathe- 
maticians of  antiquity,  unacquainted  with  the  brilliant  invention, 
which  has  given  a  new  aspect  to  mathematical  science,  of  deter- 
mining the  value,  in  a  great  measure,  by  the  relative  position  of 
the  figures. 

In  the  measurement  of  time,  the  Aztecs  adjusted  their  civil  year 
by  the  solar.  They  divided  it  into  eighteen  months  of  twenty 
days  each.  Both  months  and  days  were  expressed  by  peculiar 
hieroglyphics, — those  of  the  former  often  intimating  the  season 
of  the  year,  like  the  French  months,  at  the  period  of  the  Revo- 
lution. Plve  complementary  days,  as  in  Egypt,'"  were  added,  to 
make  up  the  full  number  of  three  hundred  and  sixty-five.  They 
belonged  to  no  month,  and  were  regarded  as  peculiarly  unlucky. 
A  month  was  divided  into  four  weeks,  of  five  days  each,  on  the 
last  of  which  was  the  public  fair,  or  market  day.'"  This  arrange- 
ment, differing  from  that  of  the  nations  of  the  Old  (Continent, 
whether  of   Europe  or  Asia,^  has   the  advantage  of  giving  an 

^  Gama,  Descri[)cion,  Parte  2,  Apend  2S. 

Gama,  in  coninaring  liie  language  of  Xfexican  notation  with  the  dccl- 
■lal  system  of  the  luiropeans.  and  llie  ingenious  Ijinary  system  of  Leibnitz, 
coafounds  oral  with  written  arithmetic. 

^  Ibid.,  ubi  supra. 

This  learned  Mexican  has  given  a  very  satisfactory  treatise  on  the  arMi- 
nctetic  of  tlie  Aztecs,  in  liis  second  part. 

**  Herodotus,  I'jitcr])e,  sec.  4. 

•'    Sahagtin,  Hist,  fie  .Vueva  Lspafia,  lib.  4.  Ajjeiul. 

According  to  rUivigaro.  the  fairs  were  lield  on  tlie  days  bearing  the  .'^ign 
of  the  year.      Stor.  del  Messi<'o,  torn.   II.  p.  (11. 

*''  The  people  of  Java,  according  to  Sir  Stamford  Raffles,  regulated  their 
marketH,  also,    by    a  week    i>f    live    days.     They    luid,  besides,  our    week   of 


«6  AZTEC  CIVILIZATION. 

equal  number  of  days  to  each  month,  and  of  comprehending  en- 
tire weeks,  without  a  fraction,  both  in  the  month  and  in  the 
year.*^ 

As  the  year  is  composed  of  nearly  six  hours  more  than  three 
hundred  and  sixty-Jfive  days,  there  still  remained  an  excess, 
which,  like  other  nations  who  have  framed  a  calendar,  they  pro- 
vided for  by  intercalation  ;  not,  indeed,  every  fourth  year,  as 
the  Europeans,^'  but  at  longer  intervals,  like  some  of  the 
Asiatics.^  They  waited  till  the  expiration  of  fifty-two  vague 
years,  when  they  interposed  thirteen  days,  or  rather  twelve  and 
a  half,  this  being  the  number  which  had  fallen  in  arrear.  Had 
they  inserted  thirteen,  it  would  have  been  too  much,  since  the 
annual  excess  over  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  is  about  eleven 
minutes  less  than  six  hours.  But,  as  their  calendar,  at  the  time 
of  the  Conquest,  was  found  to  correspond  with  the  European, 
(making  allowance  for  the  subsequent  Gregorian  reform,)  they 
would  seem  to  have  adopted  the  shorter  period  of  twelve  days 
and  a  half,^  which  brought   them,  within   an   almost  inappreci- 

seven.  (History  of  Java.  (London,  1S30,)  vol.  I.,  pp.  531,  532.)  The  latter 
division  of  time,  of  general  use  throughout  the  East,  is  the  oldest  monument 
existing  of  astronomical  science.  See  La  Place,  Expositii^n  ciu  Svstfeme  du 
Monde,  (Paris,  1S08,)  lib.  5,  chap,   i. 

**  Veytia,  Plistoria  Antigua  de  Mejico,  (Mejic<3.  1S06,)  torn.  L  cap.  6,  7. 
— Gama,  Descripcion,  Parte  i,  jjp.  33,  34,  et  alibi. — lioturini,  Idea,  p]3.  4, 
44,  et  seq. — Cod.  Tel.  Rem.,  ap.  Antiq.  of  Mexico,  vol.  VL  p.  KJ4. — 
Camaruo,  Hist,  de  Tiascala,  MS. — Toribio,  Hist,  de  los  Indios,  MS.,  Parte 
\.  cap.  5. 

•''  Sahagun  intimates  doubts  of  this.  "  Otra  fiesta  hacian  de  cuatro  en 
cuatro  anos  a  honra  del  fuego,  y  en  esta  fiesta  es  verosimil,  y  hay  congeturas 
que  hacian  su  vLsicsto  contando  seis  dias  de  nemontemi^'  ;  the  five  unlucky 
C()inpiemen;a-y  days  were  so  called.  (Hist,  de  Nueva  Espafia,  l:b.  4,  Apend.) 
Put  this  author,  however  good  an  authority  for  the  superstitions,  is  an  in- 
different one  for  the  science  of  the  Mexicans. 

"=  The  Persians  had  a  cycle  of  one  liundred  and  twenty  years,  of  three 
hundred  and  sixty-five  days  each  at  the  end  of  which  they  intercalated  thirty 
days.  (Humboldt,  Vues  dcs  Cordilleres,  p.  177.)  This  was  tiie  same  as 
thTtccn  a'^ter  the  cvcle  of  fiftv-two  years  of  the  Mexicans  ;  but  it  was  less 
accurate  than  their  probable  intercalation  of  twelve  days  and  a  half.  Ii  is 
oL'viously  indiff^i-cnt,  as  far  as  accuracy  is  concerned,  whicli  nuiltipje  of  four 
i."5  selected  to  form  the  cvcle  ;  though  the  shorter  tiie  interval  of  intercalation, 
the  less  of  course,  will  be  the  temporary  departure  from  the  true  time, 

■'■'  This  is  t:ie  conciusion  to  which  Gama  arrives,  after  a  very  careful  in- 
vestigation of  the  subject.  He  supposes  that  the  "bundles,"  or  cycles,  of 
fiftv-f.vo  years. — bv  which,  as  we  shall  see,  the  Mexicans  computed  time, 
— ended,  alternately,  at  midnigiit  and  midclay.  (Descripcion,  Parte  i,  p. 
52.  et  seq.)  lie  finds  some  warrant  for  this  in  Acosta's  account,  (lib.  6,  cap. 
2,1  thou;_;n  coiuradicted  by  Torquemada,  (Monarch.  Ind.,  liK  >  cap.  33,) 
anri,  as  it  ajjpears,  l)y  .Sahagun, — whose  work,  however,  Gam  .  never  saw, — • 
(H:st.  de  X:k  v,i  li-Mafia,  lib.  7,  c;u).  9.)  botli  of  whom  place  the  close  of  the 
year  at  midnigli;.  (lama's  h\iJo:iiesis  dt-rive.-  confirmation  from  a  circum- 
stance I  liave  not  seen  not'ced.      lle.^ide.^  liic  "  b-.mdle  "  of  ^_fty-two  years,  thc 


CHKOXOLOGY. 


97 


able  fraction,  to  the  exact  length  of  the  tropical  year,  as  estab- 
lished by  the  most  accurate  observations.^'  Indeed,  the  inter- 
calation of  twenty-five  days,  in  every  hundred  and  four  year" 
shows  a  nicer  adjustment  of  civil  to  solar  time  than  is  presentea 
bv  any  European  calendar  ;  since  more  than  five  centuries  must 
elapyse,  before  the  loss  of  an  entire  day.^'  Such  was  the  aston- 
ishing precision  displayed  by  the  Aztecs,  or,  perhaps,  by  their 
more  polished  Toltec  predecessors,  in  these  computations,  so 
difficult  as  to  have  bafffed,  till  a  comparatively  recent  period, 
the  most  enlightened  nations  of  Christendom  !  ^^ 

The  chronological  system  of  the  Mexicans,  by  which  they  de- 
termined the  date  of  any  particular  event,  was,  also,  very  re- 
Mexicans  had  a  larger  cycie  of  one  hundred  and  four  years,  called  "  an  old 
age."  As  this  was  not  used  in  their  reckonings,  which  were  carried  on  by 
their  "  bundles,''  it  seems  highly  probable  that  it  was  designed  to  express 
the  period  which  would  bring  round  the  commencement  of  the  smaller 
cycles  to  the  same  hour,  and  in  which  the  intercalary  days,  amounting  to 
twenty-five,  might  be  comprehended  without  a  fraction. 

*J  This  length,  as  computed  by  Zach,  at  365d.  511.  48m.  48sec.,  is  only 
2m.  gsec.  longer  than  the  Mexican  ;  wh;\*'.!  corresponds  with  the  celebrated 
calculation  of  the  astronomers  of  the  Caliph  Almamon,  that  fell  short  about 
two  minutes  of  the  true  time.     See  La  Place,  Exposition,  p.  350. 

<i  ''El  corto  exceso  de  4hor.  38min.  40seg.,  que  hay  de  mas  de  los  25dias  en 
el  pen'odo  de  104  anos,  no  puede  componer  un  dia  entero,  hasta  que  pasen 
mas  de  cinco  de  estcs  periodos  maximos  6  538  anos."  Gama,  Descripcion, 
Parte  i,  p.  23.)     Gama  estimates   the  solar  year  at  365d.  5h.  48m.  5osec. 

■•'-The  ancient  Etruscans  arranged  their  calendar  in  cycles  of  iiosolat 
years,  and  reckoned  the  year  at  365d.  5h.  40m. ;  at  least,  this  seems  probable, 
says  Xiehuhr.  (History  of  Rome,  I'.ng.  trans.,  (Cambridge  1828,)  vol,  T, 
p.  113.  23S.)  The  earlv  Romans  had  not  wit  enough  to  avail  themselves 
of  this  accurate  measurement,  which  came  within  nine  minutes  of  tho 
true  time.  The  Julian  reform,  which  assumed  365d.  5Jh.  as  the  length  ot 
the  year,  erred  as  much,  or  rather  more,  on  the  other  side.  And  when  tho 
Europeans,  who  adopted  tliis  calendar,  landed  in  Mexico,  their  reckoning 
was  nearly  eleven  days  in  advance  of  the  exact  time, — or,  in  other  words^ 
of  the  reckoning  of  the  barbarous  Aztecs;  a  remarkable  fact. 

Gama's  researches  lead  to  the  conclusion,  that  tiie  year  of  the  new  cycla 
began  with  the  Aztecs  on  the  ninth  of  January  ;  a  date  considerably  earliei 
than  that  usually  assigned  by  the  Mexican  writers.  (Descripcion,  Parte  i, 
pp.  49-52.)  Uy  postponing  the  intercalation  to  the  end  of  fifty-two  years,  th<j 
annual  loss  of  six  hours  made  every  fourth  vear  begin  a  day  earlier.  Tims, 
the  cycle  commencing  on  the  ninth  of  January,  the  fifth  year  of  it  began  on 
the  eighth,  the  ninth  year  on  the  seventh,  and  so  on  ;  so  that  the  last  day  of 
the  series  of  fifty-two  years  fell  on  the  twenty-sixth  of  December,  when  (he 
intercalation  of  thirteen  days  rectified  the  chronology,  and  carried  the  com- 
nieiicement  of  the  new  year  to  the  ninth  of  January  again.  Torquemada, 
puz/.led  by  the  irregularity  of  the  new-vcar's  day,  asserts  that  the  Mexicans 
were  unacfpiainted  with  the  annual  excess  of  six  hours,  and  therefore  never 
intercalated  !  (Monarch.  Ind.,  lil).  10,  cap.  36.)  The  interpreter  of  the  Vati- 
can Codex  has  fallen  into  a  series  cjf  blunders  on  the  same  subject,  still  more 
ludicrous.  (Antiq.  of  Mexi(  o,  vol.  VI.  PI.  16.)  So  soon  had  Aztec  scienct 
iallen  into  oblivion,  after  the  Conquest) 


^8  AZTEC  CIVILIZATIOA\ 

markalble.     T'  e  epo'"';,  from  which  they  reckoned,  corresponded 

with  tlie  ye<a..  1091,  -^f  the  Christian  era.  It  was  the  period  of 
the  reform  of  their  calendar,  soon  after  their  migration  from 
Aztlan.  They  threw  the  years,  as  already  noticed,  into  great 
cycles,  of  fifty-two  each,  which  they  called  "sheafs,"  or  "bun- 
dles,"' and  represented  by  a  quantity  of  reeds  bound  together 
by  a  string.  As  often  as  this  hieroglyphic  occurs  in  their  maps, 
it  shows  the  number  of  half  centuries.  To  enable  them  to 
specify  any  particular  year,  they  divided  the  great  cycle  into  four 
smaller  cycles,  or  indictions,  of  thirteen  years  each.  They  then 
adopted  two  periodical  series  of  signs,  one  consisting  of  their 
numerical  dots,  up  to  thirteen,  the  other,  of  four  hieroglyphics 
of  the  years.*^  These  latter  they  repeated*  in  regular  succession, 
setting  against  each  one  a  number  of  the  corresponding  series 
of  dots,  continued  also  in  regular  succession  up  to  thirteen. 
The  same  system  was  pursued  through  the  four  indictions,  which 
thus,  it  will  be  observed,  began  always  with  a  different  hiero- 
glyphic of  the  year  from  the  preceding  ;  and  in  this  way,  each  of 
the  hieroglyphics  was  made  to  combine  successively  with  each 
of  the  numerical  signs,  but  never  twice  with  the  same  ;  since 
four,  and  thirteen,  the  factors  of  fifty-two, — the  number  of  years 
in  the  cycle, — must  admit  of  just  as  many  combinations  as  are 
equal  to  their  product.  Thus  every  year  had  its  appropriate 
symbol,  by  which  it  was,  at  once,  recognized.  And  this  symbol, 
preceded  by  the  proper  number  of  "bundles,"  indicating  the 
half  centuries,  showed  the  precise  time  which  had  elapsed  since 
the  national  epoch  of  1091.'"  The  ingenious  contrivance  of  a 
periodical  series,  in  place  of  the  cumbrous  system  of  hieroglyph- 
ical  notation,  is  not  peculiar  to  the  Aztecs,  and  is  to  be  found 
among  various  people,  on  the  Asiatic  continent, — the  same  in 
principle,  though  varying  materially  in  arrangement.*^ 

■*'  These  hieroglyphics  were  a  "  rabbit,"  a  "  reed,"  a  "  flint,"  a  '•  house." 
The\  were  taken  as  symbolical  of  the  four  elements,  air,  water,  fire,  earth, 
according  10  Veytia.  (Hist.  Antig. ,  torn.  I.  cap.  5.)  It  is  not  easy  to  see 
the  conne:\i()n  between  the  terms  ''  rabbit  '"  and  '■  air,"  whicli  lead  the  re- 
spective series. 

■•*  The  foiiowin.q  table  of  two  of  the  four  indictions  of  thirteen  -ears  each 
wi:;  make  the  te.vt  more  clear.  The  first  column  shows  the  actual  year  of  the 
great   cycle,  or    '•  bimdle."     The   second,  tb.e    numerical   doti   used   in   their 

■•■''  An'iO!;g  ihe  Chinese,  Japanese,  Moghols.  Mantchous,  and  other  families 
of  the  Tar'ar  ri:ce.  Their  series  are  composed  of  symbols  of  their  five  ele^ 
ment-.  and  tne  twelve  zodiacal  signs  making  a  cycle  of  sixty  years'  duration. 
Their  sever.Hl  system^;  are  exhibited,  in  connection  with  the  Mexican,  in  the 
lumintius  p.iL'es  .if  Humboldt,  (Vues  dfes  Cordillores,  p.  149,)  who  draws  im- 
portant con^;-fiiienceb  from  the  comparison,  to  which  we  shall  have  occasion 
to  return  hereafter. 


CHRONOLOGY. 


99 


The  solar  calendar,  above  described,  might  have  answered 
all  the  purposes  of  the  nation  ;  but  the  priests  chose  to  con- 
arithmetic.  The  third  is  composed  of  their  hieroglyphics  for  rabbit,  reed, 
flint,  house,  in  their  regular  order. 


First  Indiction.          [ 

Second  iMCjie'i'ieN. 

Year 
of  ihe 
Cyclo. 

1. 

i 

"Year 
of  ths 
Cycle. 

14. 

^ 

3. 

.    . 

f>? 

15, 

.    » 

4 

3. 

«   •  * 

t 

16. 

.    •    • 

K 

4. 

.... 

E 

17. 

.    •   »   « 

^ 

5. 

<8f 

18. 

ih 

6. 

!  *  '  *  * 

fY? 

19. 

$ 

7. 

M  *  *  ' 

1 

20. 

'.    .        '    ' 

ft 

8. 

','.'.' 

¥ 

21. 

t^ 

e. 

.'■■ .  .  . 

mi 

23. 

!  '*!^i  ■ 

fVf 

10 

^ 

$ 

23. 

^ 
E 

11. 

,•;*  '  '-  '■ 

24. 

IS, 

i.'.-.'  >:  *  !J  ■   ^' 

n 

§5. 

!"!!*!  ! 

S 

13. 

€B^ 

26. 

:  :  :  ■  ■ 

fff 

By  pursuing  the  combinations  through  the  two  remaining  Indictions,  it 
will  be  found  that  the  same  ninuber  (jf  dots  will  never  coincide  with  the  same 
hieroglyphic. 

These  tables  are  generally  thrown  into  the  form  of  wheels,  as  are  those, 
also,  of  their  months  and  days,  having  a  very  pretty  effect.  Several  have 
been  published,  at  different  times,  from  the  collections  of  Siguenza  and 
Boturini.     The  wheel  of  the  great  cycle  of  fifty-two  years  is  encompassed  I'y 


lOo  AZTEC  CHRONOLOGY. 

Struct  another  for  them^slves.     This  was  called  a  "  lunar  reckon. 

ing,"  though  nowis'"  accommodated  to  the  revolutions  of  the 
moon.*®  It  was  formed,  also,  of  two  periodical  series,  one  of 
them  consisting  of  thirteen  numerical  signs,  or  dots,  the  other, 
of  the  twenty  hieroglyphics  of  the  days.  But,  as  the  product  of 
these  combinations  would  only  be  260,  and,  as  some  confusion 
might  arise  from  the  repetition  of  the  same  terms  for  the  remain- 
ing 105  days  of  the  year,  they  invented  a  third  series,  consisting 
of  nine  additional  hieroglyphics,  which,  alternating  with  the  two 
preceding  series,  rendered  it  impossible  that  the  three  should 
coincide  twice  in  the  same  year,  or  indeed  in  less  than  2340 
days;  since  20x13X9=2340.^'  Thirteen  was  a  mystic  number 
of  frequent  use  in  their  tables.'*^  Why  they  resorted  to  that  of 
nine,  on  this  occasion,  is  not  so  clear. -^^ 

a  serpent,  which  was  also  the  symbol  of '•  an  age,"  both  with  the  Persians 
and  Egyptians.  Father  Toribio  seems  to  misapprehend  the  nature  of  these 
chronological  wheels;  '•  Tenian  rodelas  y  escudos.  y  en  ellas  pintadas  las 
figuras  y  armas  de  sus  Demonios  con  su  blason."'  Hist,  de  los  Indios.  MS., 
Parte  l,  cap.  4. 

^"  In  this  calendar,  the  months  of  the  tropical  year  were  distributed  into 
cycles  of  thirteen  days,  which,  being  repeated  twenty  times. — the  luunber  of 
days  in  a  solar  month, — completed  the  lunar,  or  astrological,  year  of  260 days; 
when  the  reckoning  liegan  again.  "By  the  contrivance  of  these  trecenas 
(terms  of  thirteen  days)  and  the  cycle  of  fifty-two  years,"  says  Gama,  "  they 
formed  a  luni-solar  period,  most  exact  for  astronomical  purposes."  (Descrip- 
cion.  Parte  i,  p.  27.)  He  acids,  that  these  trecettas  v/tre  suggested  by  the 
periods  in  which  the  moon  is  visible  before  and  after,  conjunction.  (Loc. 
cit.)  It  seems  hardly  possible  that  a  people,  capable  of  constructing  a  cal- 
endar so  accurately  on  the  true  principles  of  solar  time,  should  so  grossly  err 
as  to  suppose,  that,  in  this  reckoning,  they  really  "'  represented  the  daily 
revolutions  of  the  moon,"  "The  whole  Eastern  world,"  says  the  learned 
Niebuhr,  "  has  followed  the  moon  in  its  calendar  ;  the  free  scientific  division 
of  a  vast  portion  of  time  is  peculiar  to  the  West.  Connected  with  the 
Weit  is  that  primeval  extinct  world  which  we  call  the  New."  History  of 
Rome.  vol.  I.  p.  239. 

■^''J'hey  were  named  "' cotnpanions."  and  "  lords  of  the  night,"  and  were 
suppo.ied  to  preside  over  the  night,  as  the  other  signs  did  over  the  day. 
Boturini,  Idea.  p.    57. 

^"  rivis.  their  astrological  year  was  divided  into  months  of  thirteen  days, 
there  were  thirteen  years  in  their  indictions,  which  contained  each  three 
hundred  and  sixty-five  periods  of  thirteen  days,  &c.  It  is  a  curious  fact,  that 
the  number  of  lunar  months  of  thirteen  days,  contained  in  a  cycle  of  fifty-two 
years,  witi:  the  intercahuion,  should  correspond  precisely  with  the  number  of 
yesr.s  in  the  great  Sothic  period  of  the  Egyptians,  namely.  1491 ;  a  period,  in 
wh)ch  the  -easons  and  festivals  came  round  to  the  same  place  in  the  year 
aga!;i..  The  C'jii-.cidence  maybe  accidental.  But  a  people  employing  periodi- 
cal s'-ries.  n.r,(t  astrolo:;ical  calculations,  have  generally  some  meaning  in  the 
nuniii'jrs  tiiey  .^eicct  and  th'.  combinations  to  which  they  lead. 

^'' Arc  irr'::,;T  ;,,  Gama,  (I.)escripcion.  Parte  I  pp,  75,  76,)  because  360 
can  be  divided  bv  nine  without  a  fraction  ;  the  nine  "companions  "  not  being 
attached  to  the  five  complementary  davs.  But  4,  a  mystic  number  much  used 
in  their  arithmetical   combinations,  would  have   answered  the  same  purpose. 


CHRONOLOGY.  loi 

This  second  calendar  rouses  a  holy  indignation  in  the  early 
Spanish  missionaries,  and  father  Sahagun  loudly  condems  it,  as 
"most  unhallowed,  since  it  is  founded  neither  on  natural  reason, 
nor  on  the  influence  of  the  planets,  nor  on  the  true  course  of  the 
year  ;  but  it  is  plainly  the  work  of  necromancy,  and  the  fruit  ot 
a  compact  with  the  Devil!"*'  One  may  doubt,  whether  the 
superstition  of  those  who  invented  the  scheme  was  greater  than 
that  of  those  who  thus  impugned  it.  At  all  events,  we  may,  with- 
out having  recourse  to  supernatural  agency,  find  in  the  human 
heart  a  sutficient  explanation  of  its  origin  ;  in  that  love  of  power, 
that  has  led  the  priesthood  of  many  a  faith  to  affect  a  mystery, 
the  key  to  which  was  in  their  own  keeping. 

By  means  of  this  calendar,  the  Aztec  priests  kept  their  own 
records,  regulated  the  festival^  and  seasons  of  sacrifice,  and 
made  all  their  astrological  calculations.^^  The  false  science  of 
astrology  is  natural  to  a  state  of  society  partially  civilized, 
where  the  mind,  impatient  of  the  slow  and  cautious  examination 
by  which  alone  it  can  arrive  at  truth,  launches,  at  once,  into 
the  regions  of  speculation,  and  rashly  attempts  to  lift  the  veil, 
— the  impenetrable  veil,  which  is  drawn  around  the  mysteries 
of  nature.  It  is  the  characteristic  of  true  science,  to  discern 
the  impassable,  but  not  very  obvious,  limits  which  divide  the 
province   of  reason  from  that  of  speculation.     Such   knowledge 

equally  well.  In  regard  to  this,  McCulloh  observes,  with  much  shrewdness, 
"  It  seems  impossible  that  the  Mexicans  so  careful  in  constructing  their  cycle. 
should  abruptly  terminate  it  with  360  revolutions,  whose  natural  period  of 
termination  is  2340."  And  he  supposes  the  nine  "companions"  were  used 
in  connexion  with  the  cycles  of  260  days,  in  order  to  throw  them  into  the 
larger  ones,  of  2340;  eight  of  which,  witfi  a  ninth  of  260  days,  he  ascertains 
to  be  equal  to  the  great  solar  period  of  52  years.  (Researches,  pp.  207,  208.) 
This  is  very  plausible.  But  in  fact  the  combinations  of  the  two  first  series, 
forming  the  cycle  of  260  days,  were  alwavs  interrupted  at  the  end  of  the  year, 
since  each  new  vear  began  with  the  same  hieroglyphic  of  the  days.  The  third 
series  of  the  "  companions  "  was  intermitted,  as  above  stated,  on  the  five 
unlucky  days  which  closed  the  year,  in  order,  if  we  may  believe  Boturini, 
that  the  first  day  of  the  solar  year  might  have  annexed  to  it  the  first  of  the 
nine  "companions,"  which  signified  "lord  of  the  year"  ;  (Idea,  p.  57  ;)  a 
result  which  might  have  been  equally  well  secured,  without  any  intermission 
at  all,  bv  taking  5,  another  favorite  number,  instead  of  9,  as  the  divisor.  As 
it  was,  however,  the  cycle,  as  far  as  the  third  .series  was  concerned,  did  termi- 
nate with  360  revolutions.  The  subject  is  a  perplexing  one;  and  I  can  hardly 
hope  to  have  presented  it  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  it  perfectly  clear  to 
the  reader. 

^'  Hist,  de  Nueva  Espafia,  lib.  4,  Introd. 

^'  "  Dansles  pavs  les  plus  differetits,"  says  Benjamin  Constant,  concluding 
some  sensible  reflections  on  the  sources  of  the  sacerdotal  powi  :,  "  chez  les 
pcuples  de  manirs  les  plus  opposoes,  le  sacerdoce  a  dtl  an  mltc  dcs  elements 
et  des  astres  un  i)ouvoir  drmt  aujourd'hui  nous  cimcevrns  a  peine  I'idee." 
De  la  Religion,  (I'aris,  1S25,)  lib.  3,  ch.  ^.  -ir    1     -i 

,  J  -  Vol.  1 


,02  AZTEC  CIVTLIZA  TIOM 

comes  tardily.  How  many  ages  have  rolled  away,  in  which 
powers,  that,  rightly  directed,  might  have  revealed  the  great  law« 
of  nature,  have  been  wasted  in  brilliant,  but  barren,  reveries  on 
alchemy  and  astrology  ! 

The  latter  is  more  particularly  the  study  of  a  primitive  agej 
when  the  mind,  incapable  of  arriving  at  the  stupendous  fact> 
that  the  myriads  of  minute  lights,  glowing  in  the  firmament,  are 
the  centres  of  systems  as  glorious  as  our  own,  is  naturally  led 
to  speculate  on  their  probable  uses,  and  to  connect  them  in  some 
way  or  other  with  man,  for  whose  convenience  every  other  object 
in  the  universe  seems  to  have  been  created.  As  the  eye  of  the 
simple  child  of  nature  watches,  through  the  long  nights,  the 
stately  march  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  sees  the  bright  hosts 
coming  up,  one  after  another,  and  changing  with  the  changing 
seasons  of  the  year,  he  naturally  associates  them  with  those 
seasons,  as  the  periods  over  which  they  hold  a  mysterious  in- 
fluence. In  the  same  manner,  he  connects  their  appearance 
with  any  interesting  event  of  the  time,  and  explores,  in  their 
flaming  characters,  the  destinies  of  the  newborn  infant.^^  Such 
is  the  origin  of  astrology,  the  false  lights  of  which  have  continued 
from  the  earliest  ages  to  dazzle  and  bewilder  mankind,  till  they 
have  faded  away  in  the  superior  illumination  of  a  comparatively 
recent  period. 

The  astrological  scheme  of  the  Aztecs  was  founded  less  on 
the  planetary  influences,  than  on  those  of  the  arbitrary  signs 
they  had  adopted  for  the  months  and  days.  The  character  of 
the  leading  sign,  in  each  lunar  cycle  of  thirteen  days,  gave  a 
complexion  to  the  whole  ;  though  this  was  qualified,  in  some 
degree,  by  the  signs  of  the  succeeding  days,  as  well  as  by  those 
of  the  hours.  It  was  in  adjusting  these  conflicting  forces  that 
the  great  art  of  the  diviner  was  shown.  In  no  country,  not  even 
in  ancient  Egypt,  were  the  dreams  of  the  astrologer  more  im- 
plicity  deferred  to.  On  the  birlli  of  a  child,  he  was  instantly 
summoned.  The  time  of  the  event  was  accuratelv  ascertained ; 
and  the  family  hung  in  trembling  suspense,  as  the  minister  of 
Heaven  cast  the  horoscope  of  the  infant,  and  unrolled  the  dark 

*^  "  It  is  a  gentle  and  affectionate  tliought, 
That,  in  immeasurable  heiglits  above  us. 
At  our  first  birth  the  wreath  of  love  was  woven 
With  sparkling  stars  for  flowers." 

Coi.RRiDGR,  Translation  of  Wallenstein,  Act  2,  sc.  4. 

Schiller  is  more  true  to  poetry  than  history,  when  he  tells  us.  in  the  beau- 
tiful passage  of  which  this  is  part,  that  the  worship  of  the  stars  took  the 
place  of  classic  mythology.     It  existed  long  before  ic. 


ASTRONOMY.  lO, 

volume  of  destiny.     The  influence  of  the  priest  was  confessed 
by  the  Mexican,  in  the  very  first  breath  which  he  inhaled.** 

We  know  little  further  of  the  astronomical  attainments  of  the 
Aztecs.  That  they  were  acquainted  with  the  cause  of  eclipses 
is  evident  from  the  representation,  on  their  maps,  of  the  disk  of 
the  moon  projected  on  that  of  the  sun."  Whether  they  had 
arranged  a  system  of  constellations  is  uncertain  ;  though,  that 
they  recognized  some  of  the  most  obvious,  as  the  Pleiades,  for 
example,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  they  regulated  their  festivals 
by  them.  We  know  of  no  astronomical  instruments  used  by 
them,  except  the  dial.""  An  immense  circular  block  of  carved 
stone,  disinterred  in  1790,  in  the  great  square  in  Mexico,  has 
supplied  an  acute  and  learned  scholar  with  the  means  of  estab- 
lishing some  interesting  facts  in  regard  to  Mexican  science.*" 
This  colossal  fragment,  on  which  the  calendar  is  engraved,  shows 
that  they  had  the  means  of  settling  the  hours  of  the  day  with 
precision,  the  periods  of  the  solstices  and  of  the  equinoxes,  and 
that  of  the  transit  of  the  sun  across  the  zenith  of  Mexico.^^ 


^  Gama  has  given  us  a  complete  almanac  of  the  astrological  year,  with  the 
appropriate  signs  and  divisions,  showing  with  what  scientific  skill  it  was 
adapted  to  its  various  uses.  (Descripcion,  Parte  i,  pp.  25-31  ;  62-76.)  Sa- 
hagun  has  devoted  a  whole  book  to  explaining  the  mystic  import  and  value 
of  these  signs,  with  a  minuteness  that  may  enable  one  to  cast  up  a  scheme  of 
nativity  for  himself.  (Hist,  de  Nueva  Espafia,lib.  4.)  It  is  evident  he  fully 
believed  the  magic  wonders  which  he  told.  "  It  was  a  deceitful  art,"  he 
says,  "  pernicious  and  idolatrous  ;  and  was  never  contrived  by  human  reason." 
Tlie  gocjd  father  was  certainly  no  philosopher. 

*^  See,  among  others,  the  Cod.  Tel. -Rem.,  Part  4,  PI.  22,  ap.  Antiq.  of 
Mexico,  vol.  I. 

•'"  ■'  It  can  hardly  be  doubted,"  says  Lord  Kingsborough,  "  that  the  Mexi- 
cans were  acquainted  with  many  scientifical  instruments  of  strange  invention, 
as  compared  with  our  own  ;  whether  the  telescope  may  not  have  been  of  the 
number  is  uncertain;  but  the  thirteenth  plate  of  M.  Dupaix's  Monuments, 
Part  Second,  which  represents  a  man  holding  something  of  a  similar  nature 
to  iiis  eye,  affc^rds  reason  to  suppose  that  they  knew  how  to  improve  the  pow- 
ers of  vision."  (Antiq.  of  Mexico,  vol.  VT.  p.  15,  note.)  The  instrument 
alluded  to  is  rudelv  carved  on  a  conical  rock.  It  is  raised  no  higher  than 
the  neck  of  the  person  who  holds  it,  and  looks — to  my  thinking — as  muoL 
like  a  musket  as  a  telescope;  though  I  shall  not  infer  the  use  of  firearms 
among  the  Aztecs  from  this  circumstance.  (See  vol.  TV.  PI.  15.)  Captain 
Dunaix,  however,  in  his  commentary  on  the  drawing,  sees  quite  as  nmch  in  it 
as  his  Lordship.      Ibid.,  vol.  V.  p.  24  r. 

•*'  (lama,  Descripcion,  Parte  i,soc.  4  ;  Parte  2,  Apend. 

Presides  this  colossal  fragment,  Cama  met  with  some  others,  designed,  prob- 
ably, for  similar  scientific  uses,  at  ChapoUepec.  Before  he  had  leisure  to 
examine  them,  however,  they  were  broken  \\\i  for  materials  to  build  a  fur 
".a^e  I  A  fate  not  unlike  that  which  has  too  often  befallen  the  monuments  of 
ancient  art  in  the  Old  World. 

^'  In  his  second  treatise  on  the  cylindrical  stone,  Ciama  (iwells  more  at 
large  on  its  scientific    construction,  as  a   vertical  sun-dial,  in  ord('r    to  dispel 


,o_^  AZTEC  CIVILIZATION. 

We  cannot  contemplate  the  astronomical  science  of  the  Me*. 
leans,  so  disproportioned  to  their  progress  in  other  walks  of  civ 
iiization,  without  astonishment.  An  acquaintance  with  some  of 
the  more  obvious  principles  of  astronomy  is  within  the  reach  of 
the  rudest  people.  With  a  little  care,  they  may  learn  to  connect 
the  regular  changes  of  the  seasons  with  those  of  the  place  of  the 
sun  at  his  rising  and  setting.  They  may  follow  the  march  of  the 
great  luminary  through  the  heavens,  by  watching  the  stars  that 
first  brighten  on  his  evening  track,  or  fade  in  his  morning  beams. 
They  may  measure  a  revolution  of  the  moon,  by  marking  her 
phases,  and  may  even  form  a  general  idea  of  the  number  of  such 
revolutions  in  a  solar  year.  But  that  they  should  be  capable  of 
accurately  adjusting  their  festivals  by  the  movements  of  the 
heavenly  bodies,  and  should  fix  the  true  length  of  the  tropical 
year,  with  a  precision  unknown  to  the  great  philosophers  of  an- 
tiquity, could  be  the  result  only  of  a  long  series  of  nice  and  pa« 
tient  observations,  evincing  no  slight  progress  m  civilization." 
But  whence  could  the  rude  inhabitants  of  these  mountain  regions 
have  derived  this  curious  erudition  ?  Not  from  the  barbarous 
hordes  who  roamed  over  the  higher  latitudes  of  the  North  ;  nor 
from  the  more  polished  races  on  the  Southern  conthient,  with 
whom,  it  is  apparent,  they  had  no  intercourse.  If  we  are  driven, 
in  our  embarrassment,  like  the  greatest  astronomer  of  our  age 
to  seek  the  solution  among  the  civilized  communities  of  Asia, 
we  shall  still  be  perplexed  by  finding,  amidst  general  resemblance 
of  outline,  sufficient  discrepancy  in  the  details,  to  tindicate,  in 
the  judgments  of  many,  the  Aztec  claim  to  originality.^ 

I  shall  conclude  the  account  of  Mexican  science,  with  that  of 
a  remarkable  festival,  celebrated  by  the  natives  at  the  termi- 
nation of  the  great  cycle  of  fifty-two  years.  We  have  seen,  in  the 
preceding  chapter,  their  tradition  of  the  destruction  of  the 
world   at  four  successive  epochs.     They  looked  forward  confi- 

the  doubts  of  some  sturdy  sceptics  on  this  point.  (Descripcion,  Parte  2. 
Apend.  i.)  The  civil  day  was  distributed  by  the  Mexicans  into  sixteen  parts; 
and  began,  like  that  of  most  of  the  Asiatic  nations,  with  sunrise.  M.  de 
Humboldt,  who  probably  never  saw  Gama's  second  treatise,  allows  only 
eight  intervals.     Vues  des  Cordileres,  p.  128. 

•''"  Un  calendrier,"  exclaims  the  enthusiastic  Carli,  "qui  est  regie'  sur  la 
I'^volution  annuelle  du  soleil,  non  seulement  par  I'addition  de  cinq  jours  toua 
les  .ins,  mais  encore  par  la  correction  du  bissextile,  doit  sans  doute  etre  re- 
gardi;  comme  une  operation  de'duile  d'une  e'tude  re'fle'chie,  et  d'une  grande 
conibinaison.  II  faut  done  supposer  chez  ces  peuples  une  suite  d'observa- 
tions  astronomiciues,  une  idee  distincte  de  la  sphere,  de  la  declinaison  de 
re'cHptique,  et  I'usage  d"un  calcul  concernant  les  juurs  et  les  heures  des  ap- 
paritions solaires,"  Lettres  Americaines,  tom.  I.  let.  23. 

*■'  La  Place,  who  suggests  the  analogy,  frankly  admits  the  difficulty, 
Syst^me  du  Monde,  lib.  5,  ch    j. 


ASTROXOMY. 


los 


dently  to  another  such  catastrophe,  to  take  place,  like  the  pre- 
ceding, at  the  close  of  a  cycle,  when  ihe  sun  was  to  be  effaced 
from  the  heavens,  the  human  race,  from  the  earth,  and  when 
the  darkness  of  chaos  was  lo  settle  on  the  habitable  globe.  The 
cycle  would  end  in  the  latter  part  of  December,  and,  as  the 
dreary  season  of  the  winter  solstice  approached,  and  the  dimin- 
ished light  of  day  gave  melancholy  presage  of  its  speedy  exiinc- 
tion,  their  apprehensions  increased  ;  and,  on  the  arrival  of  the 
five  "  unlucky "  days  which  closed  the  year,  ihey  abandoned 
themselves  to  despair.**'  'rhe\'  broke  in  pieces  the  little  images 
of  their  household  gods,  in  whom  they  no  longer  trusted.  The 
holy  fires  were  suffered  to  go  out  in  the  temples,  and  none  were 
lighted  in  their  own  dwellings.  Their  furniture  and  domestic 
uien.siis  were  destroyed;  their  garments  torn  in  pieces;  and 
everything  was  thrown  into  disorder,  for  the  coming  of  the  evil 
genii  who  were  to  descend  on  the  desolate  earth 

On  the  evening  of  the  last  day,  a  procession  of  priests,  assum- 
ing the  dress  and  ornaments  of  their  gods,  moved  from  the  cap- 
ital towards  a  lofty  mountain,  about  two  leagues  distant.  They 
carried  with  them  a  noble  victim,  the  flower  of  their  captives,  and 
an  apparatus  for  kindling  the  /lewjifr,  the  success  of  which  was 
an  augury  of  the  rei^ewal  of  the  cvcle.  On  reaching  the  summit 
of  the  mountain,  the  procession  paused  till  midnight  ;  when,  as 
the  constellation  of  the  Pleiades  approached  the  zenith,®^  the 
nezu  fire  was  kindled  by  the  friction  of  the  sticks  placed  on  the 
wounded  breast  of  the  victim.'^*  The  flame  was  soon  communi- 
cated to  a  funeral  pile,  on  which  the  body  of  the  slaughtered 
captive  wis  thrown.  As  the  light  streamed  up  towards  heaven, 
sliouts  of  iov  and  triumph  burst  forth  from  the  countless  multi- 
tudes who  covered  the  hills,  the  terraces  of  the  temples    and  the 

'  M.  Jomard  errs  in  placing  the  nav  fire,  with  which  ceremony  the  old 
cvcle  i)r')pcrly  concluded,  at  the  winter  solstice.  It  was  not  till  the  26th  day 
of  December,  if  Gama  is  right.  The  cause  of  M.  Jomard's  error  is  his  fixing 
it  btffjre,  instead  uf  after,  the  complementarv  days.  See  his  sensible  letter 
on  '.iie  Aztec  calendar,  in  the  Vucs  ties  Cordilleres  p.   309. 

' '  At  the  actual  moment  of  their  culmination,  accordin'.j  to  botn  Sahagun 
(Mst.  (le  Xueva  Kspana,  lib.  4,  Apend.)  and  'rorcpiemada  (Mo!i;irch.  Ind., 
\\'.\  10,  cap.  -Tj^,  36).  Hut  this  conid  not  be,  as  thai  took  place  at  midnight, 
in  X  ivcmbor;  so  late  as  the  last  secular  festival,  which  was  earl\  in  Monte- 
zunia's  reign,  in  1507.  (Gama,  Descripcion,  Pari-.-  i,  p.  50.  nota. —  Ihmiboldt, 
Vnr>^-.  des  rordillere-,  pp.  rSr.  1S2.  ;  '!'h'- lonL'cr  we  [)osti)one  the  beginningof 
the  new  cycle,  the  greater  stTil  mii-t  be  tii"  discre;)ancy. 

•Hi  "  C)ii  his  bare  brta.st  tlii>  cedar  bnuKhs  are  laid ; 

On  bis  bare  breast,  drv  ^ud^e  and  odorous  gums 
Lay  ready  to  ri-ceive  the  sacred  spark 
And  bla/.e,  to  lii-r.iM  til';  ascimdiuf;  Sun, 
Upoi;  his  iiving  altar.  " 

South  by' s  Madoc,  part  3,  canto  »^ 


jo6 


AZTEC  civilization: 


house-tops,  wit^  :  ye:  'anxiously  bent  on  the  mount  of  sacrifice. 
Couriers,  with  torches  lighted  at  the  blazing  beacon,  rapidly  bore 
t.hem  over  »very  part  of  the  country ;  and  the  cheering  element 
was  seen  brightening  on  altar  and  hearthstone,  for  the  circuit  of 
many  a  league,  long  before  the  sun,  rising  on  his  accustomed 
track,  gave  assurance  that  a  new  cycle  had  commenced  its  march, 
and  that  the  laws  of  nature  were  not  to  be  reversed  for  the 
Aztecs. 

The  following  thirteen  days  were  given  up  to  festivity.  The 
houses  were  cleansed  and  whitened.  The  broken  vessels  were 
replaced  by  new  ones.  The  people,  dressed  in  their  gayest  ap- 
parel, and  crowned  with  garlands  and  chaplets  of  flowers, 
thronged  in  joyous  procession,  to  offer  up  their  oblations  and 
thanksgivings  in  the  temples.  Dances  and  games  were  instituted, 
emblematical  of  the  regeneration  of  the  world.  It  was  the  car- 
nival of  the  Aztecs  ;  or  rather  the  national  jubilee,  the  great 
secular  festival,  like  that  of  the  Romans,  or  ancient  Etruscans, 
which  few  alive  had  witnessed  before, — or  could  expect  to  see 
again.°^ 

6-^  I  borrow  the  words  of  the  summons  by  which  the  people  were  called 
to  the  ludi  secidares.  the  secular  games  of  ancient  Rome,  "  quos  nee  spectdsset 
quistjtmm,  nee  speetatuyus  esset."  (Suetonius,  Vita  Tib.  Claudii,  lib.  5.)  The 
old  Mexican  chroniclers  warm  into  something  like  eloquence  in  their  descrip- 
tions of  the  Aztec  festival,  (Torquemada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  10,  cap.  33. 
— Toribio,  Hist  de  los  Indios,  MS.,  Parte  i,  cap.  5. — Sahagun,  Hist,  de 
Nueva  Espana,  lib.  7,  cap.  9-12.  See  also,  Gama  Descripcion,  Parte  i,  pp. 
52-54, — Clavigero,  Stor.  del  Messico,  torn.  H.  pp.  84-86. )  The  English 
reader  will  find  a  more  brilliant  coloring  of  the  same  scene  in  tha  canto  of 
Madoc,  above  cited, — "  On  the  Close  of  the  Century." 


M.  de  Humboldt  remarked,  many  years  ago.  It  were  to  be  wished  that 
some  government  would  publish  at  its  own  expense  the  remains  of  the  an- 
cient American  civilization  ;  for  it  is  only  by  the  comparison  of  several  monu- 
ments, that  we  can  succeed  in  discovering  the  meaning  of  these  allegories, 
which  are  partly  astronomical,  and  partly  mystic."  This  enlightened  wish 
has  now  been  realized,  not  by  any  government,  but  by  a  private  individual 
Lord  Kingsborough.  The  great  work,  published  under  his  auspices,  and  so 
often  cited  in  this  Introduction,  appeared  in  London  in  1830.  When  com- 
pleted, it  will  reach  to  nine  volumes,  seven  of  which  are  now  before  the 
public.  Some  idea  of  its  magnificence  maybe  formed  by  those  who  have  not 
seen  it,  from  the  fact,  that  copies  of  it,  with  colored  plates,  sold  originally  at 
£175.  and,  with  uncolored,  at  £120.  The  price  has  been  since  much 
reduced.  It  is  designed  to  exhibit  a  complete  view  of  the  ancient  Aztec  MSS., 
with  such  few  interpretations  as  exist  ;  the  beautiful  drawings  of  Castaneda 
relating  to  Central  America,  with  the  commentary  of  Dupaix;  the  unpub 
lished  history  of  father  Sahagun;  and,  last,  not  least,  the  copious  annotations 
of  his  Lordship. 

Too  much  cannot  be    said  of   the  mechanical  execution  of    the  book, — its 


LORD  KIXGSBOKOUGH. 


107 


splendid  typography,  the  apparent  accuracy  and  the  delicacy  of  the  drawings, 
and  the  sumptuous  quality  of  the  materials.  Yet  the  purchaser  would  have 
been  saved  some  superfluous  expense,  and  the  reader  nuich  inconvenience, 
if  the  letter-press  had  been  in  volumes  of  an  ordinary  size.  But  it  is  not 
uncommon,  in  works  on  this  magnificent  plan,  to  find  utility  in  some  measure 
sacrificed  to  show. 

The  collection  of  Aztec  MSS.,  if  not  perfectly  complete,  is  very  extensive 
and  reflects  great  credit  on  the  diligence  and  research  of  the  compiler.  It 
strikes  one  as  strange,  however,  that  not  a  single  document  should  have 
been  drawn  from  Spain.  Peter  Martyr  speaks  of  a  number  having  been 
brought  thither  in  his  time.  (De  Insulis  nuper  Inventis,  p.  368.)  The  Mar- 
quis Spineto  examined  one  in  the  Escuriai,  being  the  same  with  the  Mendoza 
Codex,  and  perhaps  the  original,  since  that  at  Oxford  is  but  a  copy.  (Lec- 
tures, lee.  7.)  Mr.  Waddilove,  chaplain  of  the  British  embassv  to  Spain,  gave 
a  particular  account  of  one  to  Dr.  Robenson,  which  he  saw  in  the  same 
library,  and  considered  an  Aztec  calendar.  Indeed,  it  is  scarcelv  possible 
that  the  frequent  voyagers  to  the  New  World  should  not  have  furnished  the 
mother-country  with  abundant  specimens  of  ihis  most  interesting  feature  of 
Aztec  civilization.  Nor  should  we  fear  that  the  present  liberal  government 
would  seclude  these  treasures  from  the  inspection  of  the  scholar. 

Much  cannot  be  said  in  favor  of  the  arrangement  of  these  codices.  In 
some  of  them,  as  the  Mendoza  Codex,  for  example,  the  plates  are  not  even 
numbered  ;  and  one  who  would  study  them  by  the  corresponding  interpreta- 
tions, must  often  bewilder  himself  in  the  maze  of  b.ieroglyphics,  without  a 
clue  to  guide  him.  Neither  is  there  any  attempt  to  enlighten  us  as  to  tlie 
positive  value  and  authenticity  of  the  respective  documents,  or  even  their 
previous  history  beyond  a  barren  reference  to  the  particular  library  from 
which  they  have  been  borrowed.  Little  light,  indeed  can  be  expected  on 
these  matters  ;  but  we  have  not  that  little. — The  defect  of  arrangement  is 
chargeable  on  other  parts  of  the  work.  Thus,  for  instance,  the  sixth  book  of 
Sahagun  is  transferred  from  the  body  of  the  history  to  which  it  belongs,  to  a 
preceding  volume;  while  the  grand  hy])othesis  of  liis  lordship,  for  which  the 
work  was  concocted,  is  huddled  into  notes,  hitched  on  random  passages  of  the 
text, with  a  good  deal  less  connection  than  the  stories  of  queen  Scheherazade, 
in  the  "  Arabian  Nights,"  and  not  quite  so  entertaining. 

The  drift  of  Lord  Kingsborough's  sjjeculations  is,  to  establish  the  colon- 
ization of  Mexico  by  the  Israelites.  To  this  the  wliole  battery  of  his  logic 
and  learning  is  directed.  For  this  hieroglyphics  are  unriddled,  manuscripts 
compared,  monuments  delineated.  His  theory,  however,  whatever  be  its 
merits,  will  scarcely  become  popular;  since,  instead  of  being  exhibited  in  a 
clear  and  comprehensive  form,  readily  embraced  by  the  mind,  it  is  spread 
over  an  infinite  number  of  notes,  thickly  sprinkled  with  quotations,  from  lan- 
guages ancient  and  modern,  till  the  weary  reader,  floundering  about  in  the 
ocean  of  fragments,  with  no  light  to  guide  him,  feels  like  Milton's  Devil, 
working  his  way  through  chaos, — 

''  neither  sea 
Nur  good  dry  land  :   i.i^li  fuundcred,  on  !r-  fares." 

7t  would  be  unjust,  however,  not  to  admit  that  the  noble  author,  if  his 
logic  is  n(jt  alwa\.->  (  ouvincing,  shows  nuicli  acutenc^s  ia  detecting  analogies; 
that  he  dib])lavs  familiarity  with  his  subject,  and  a  fluid  of  erudition,  though 
it  often  runs  to  waste  ;  that  whatever  be  the  defects  of  arrangement,  he  has 
brought  together  a  most  rich  (ollecti(;n  of  im])iiblished  materi;ds  to  illustrate 
the  .Aztec  ,  and  in  a  wider  sense,  .Ameriran  anticiuities  ;  anfi  that,  by  this 
munificent      underiakinjj,    which    no     government,    probably,    would    have, 


,o8  AZTEC  CIVILIZATION-. 

and  few  individuals  coul<^  x;ut  ,  executed,  he  has  entitled  himself  to  the  lasting 
gratitude  of  every  friend  of  .  cience. 

Another  writer,  whose  works  must  be  diligently  consulted  by  every  student 
of  Mexican  antiquities,  is  Antonio  Gama.  His  life  contains  as  few  incidents 
as  those  of  most  scholars.  He  was  born  at  Mexico,  in  1735,  of  a  respectable 
family,  and  was  bred  to  the  law.  He  early  showed  a  preference  for  mathe- 
matical studies,  conscious  that  in  this  career  lay  his  strength.  In  1771,  he 
communicated  his  observations  on  the  eclipse  of  that  year  to  the  French 
astronomer  M.  de  Lalande,  who  published  them  in  Paris,  with  high  commen- 
dations, of  the  author.  Gama's  increasing  reputation  attracted  the  attention 
of  government ;  and  he  was  employed  by  it,  in  various  scientific  labors  of  im- 
portance. His  great  passion,  however,  was  the  study  of  Indian  antiquities. 
He  made  himself  acquainted  with  the  history  of  the  native  races,  their  tradi- 
tions, their  languages,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  their  hieroglyphics.  He  had 
an  oportunity  of  showing  the  fruits  of  this  preparatory  training,  and  his  skill 
as  an  antiquary,  on  the  discovery  of  the  great  calendar-stone,  in  1790.  He 
produced  a  masterly  treatise  on  this,  and  another  Aztec  monument,  explain- 
mg  the  objects  to  which  they  were  devoted,  and  pouring  a  flood  of  light  on 
the  astronomical  science  of  the  Aborigines,  their  mvthology,  and  their  astro- 
logical system.  He  afterwards  continued  his  investigations  in  the  same  path 
and  wrote  treatises  on  the  dial,  hieroglyphics,  and  arithmetic  of  the  Indians. 
These,  however,  were  not  given  to  the  v/orld  till  a  few  years  since,  when 
they  were  publislied,  together  with  a  reprint  of  the  former  work,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  industrious  Bustamante.  Gama  died  in  1802;  leaving  behind 
him  a  reputation  for  great  worth  in  private  life  ;  one,  in  which  the  bigotry, 
that  seems  to  enter  too  frequently  into  the  character  of  the  Spanish-Mexican, 
was  tempere'l  by  the  liberal  feelings  of  a  man  of  science.  His  reputation  as 
a  writer  stands  high  for  patient  acquisition,  accuracy  and  acuteness.  His 
conclusions  are  neither  warped  by  the  love  of  theory  so  common  in  the  phil- 
osopher, nor  by  the  easy  credulity  so  natural  to  the  antiquary.  He  feels  his 
way  with  the  caution  of  a  mathematician,  whose  steps  are  demonstrations. 
M,  de  Humboldt  was  largely  indebted  to  his  first  vork,  as  he  has  emphati- 
cally acknowledged.  But  not  withstanding  the  eulogiums  of  this  popular 
writer,  and  his  own  merits,  Gama's  treatises  are  rarely  met  with  out  of  New 
Spain,  and  his  name  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  a  transatlantic  reputafion. 


AGRICUL  TURK 


109 


CHAPTER  V. 

Aztec  Agriculture. — Mechanical  Arts. — Merchants. — 
Domestic  Manners. 

It  is  hardly  possible  that  a  nation,  so  far  advanced  as  the 
Aztecs  in  mathemaiical  science,  should  not  have  made  consider- 
able progress  in  the  mechanical  arts,  which  are  so  nearly  con- 
nected with  it.  Indeed,  intellectual  progress  of  any  kind  implies 
a  degree  of  refinement,  that  requires  a  certain  cultivation  of 
both  useful  and  elegant  art.  The  savage,  wandering  through 
the  wide  forest,  without  shelter  for  his  head,  or  raiment  for  his 
back,  knows  no  other  wants  than  those  of  animal  appetites  ;  and, 
when  they  are  satisfied,  seems  to  himself  to  have  answered  the 
only  ends  of  existence.  But  man,  in  society,  feels  numerous 
desires,  and  artificial  tastes  spring  up,  accommodated  to  the 
various  relations  in  which  he  is  placed,  and  perpetually 
stimulating  his  invention  to  devise  new  expedients  to  gratify 
them. 

There  is  a  wide  ditterence  in  the  mechanical  skill  of  different 
nations  ;  but  the  difference  is  still  greater  in  the  inventive 
power  which  directs  this  skill,  and  makes  it  available.  Some 
nations  seem  to  have  no  power  beyond  that  of  imitation  ;  or,  if 
they  possess  invention,  have  it  in  so  low  a  degree,  that  they  are 
constantly  repeating  the  same  idea,  without  a  shadow  of  altera- 
tion or  improvement ;  as  the  bird  builds  precisely  the  same 
kind  of  nest  which  those  of  its  own  species  built  at  the  beginning 
of  the  world.  Such,  for  example,  are  the  Chinese,  who  have, 
probably,  been  familiar  for  ages  with  the  germs  of  some  dis- 
coveries, of  little  practical  benefit  to  themselves,  but  which, 
under  the  influence  of  European  genius,  have  reached  a  dcj^^ee 
of  excellence,  that  has  wrought  an  important  change  ia  the  coa- 
stitution  of  society. 

Far  from  looking  back,  and  forming  itself  slavishly  on  the 
past,  it  is  characteristic  of  the  Kiiropean  intellect  to  be  ever  on 
•^He  advance.  Old  discoveries  become  the  basis  of  new  ones. 
It  passes  onward  from  truth  to  truth,  connecting  the  whole  by  a 
succession  of  links,  as  it  were,  into  the  great  chain  of  science 
which  is  to  encircle  and  bind  together  the  uni\erse.  The  light 
of  lear-ning   is   shed  over  the   labors   of  art.     New   avenues  are* 


J  ,  O  AZ  TEC  CI  VI LIZ  A  flON. 

opened  for  the  communication   both  of  person   and  of  thought 

New  facilities  are  devised  for  subsistence.  Personal  comforts, 
of  every  kind,  are  inconceivably  multiplied,  and  brought  within 
the  reach  of  the  poorest.  Secure  of  these,  the  thoughts  travel 
into  a  nobler  region  than  that  of  the  senses  ;  and  the  appliances 
of  art  are  made  to  minister  to  the  demands  of  an  elegant  taste, 
and  a  higher  mora!  culture. 

The  same  enlightened  spirit,  applied  to  agriculture,  raises  it 
from  a  mere  mechanical  drudgery,  or  the  barren  formula  of 
traditional  precepts,  to  the  dignity  of  a  science.  As  the  com- 
position of  the  earth  is  analyzed,  man  learns  the  capacity  of  the 
soil  that  he  cultivates  ;  and,  as  his  empire  is  gradually  extended 
over  the  elements  of  nature,  he  gains  the  power  to  stimulate  her 
to  her  most  bountiful  and  various  production.  It  is  with  satis- 
faction that  we  can  turn  to  the  land  of  our  fathers,  as  the  one  in 
which  the  experiment  has  been  conducted  on  the  broadest  scale, 
and  attended  with  results  that  the  world  has  never  before  wit* 
nessed.  With  equal  truth,  we  may  point  to  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race  in  both  hemispheres,  as  that  whose  enterprising  genius  has 
contributed  most  essentially  to  the  great  interests  of  humanity, 
by  the  application  of  science  to  the  useful  arts. 

Husbandry,  to  a  very  limited  extent,  indeed,  was  practised 
by  most  of  the  rude  tribes  of  North  America.  Wherever  a 
natural  opening  in  the  forest,  or  a  rich  strip  of  interval,  met 
their  eyes,  or  a  green  slope  was  found  along  the  rivers,  they 
planted  it  with  beans  and  Indian  corn.^  The  cultivation  was 
slovenly  in  the  extreme,  and  could  not  secure  the  improvident 
natives  from  the  frequent  recurrence  of  desolating  famines. 
Still,  that  they  tilled  the  soil  at  all  was  a  peculiarity  which  hon* 
orably  distinguished  them  from  other  tribes  of  hunters,  and 
raised  them  one  degree  higher  in  the  scale  of  civilization. 

Agriculture  in  Mexico  was  in  the  same  advanced  state  as  the 
other  arts  of  social  life.  In  few  countries,  indeed,  has  it  been 
more  respected.  It  was  closely  interwoven  witii  the  civil  and 
religious  institutions  of  the  nation.  There  were  peculiar  deities 
to  preside  over  it ;  the  names  of  the  months  and  of  the  religious 
fesLi\'als  had  more  or  less  reference  to  it.  The  public  taxes,  as 
we  have  seen,  were  often  paid  in  agricultural  produce.  All, 
except    tlie    soldiers    and  great    nobles,    even    the  inhabitants 

^'I'his  latter  grr\in,  according  to  Humboldt,  was  found  by  the  Europeans  in 
the  New  World,  from  the  South  of  Chili  to  Pennsylvania';  (Essai  Politique, 
torn.  II.  p.  408  ;)  he  might  have  added,  to  the  St.  Lawrence.  Our  Puritaa 
fathers  found  it  in  abundance  on  the  New  England  coast,  wherever  they  landed 
See  Morton, _  New  England's  Memorial,  (Boston.  1826,)  p.  68-— Gookin,  Masssk. 
chusetts  Historical  <  oilections,  chap.  3. 


AGRICULTURE.  Hi 

of  the  cities,  cultivated  the  soil.  The  work  was  chiefly  done  by 
the  men  ,  the  women  scattering  the  seed,  husking  the  corn,  and 
taking  part  only  in  the  lighter  labors  of  the  field.*  In  this  they 
presented  an  honorable  contrast  to  the  other  tribes  of  the  con- 
tinent, who  imposed  the  burden  of  agriculture,  severe  as  it  is  in 
the  North,  on  their  women.*  Indeed,  the  sex  was  as  tenderly 
regarded  by  the  Aztecs  in  this  matter,  as  it  is,  in  most  parts  of 
Europe,  at  the  present  day. 

There  was  no  want  of  judgment  in  the  management  of  their 
ground.  When  somewhat  exhausted,  it  was  permitted  to  recover 
by  lying  fallow.  Its  extreme  dryness  was  relieved  by  canals, 
with  which  the  land  was  partially  irrigated;  and  the  same  end 
was  promoted  by  severe  penalties  against  the  destruction  of  the 
woods,  with  which  the  country,  as  already  noticed,  was  well  cov- 
ered before  the  Conquest.  Lastly,  they  provided  for  their  har- 
vests ample  granaries,  which  were  admitted  by  the  Conquerors 
to  be  of  admirable  construction.  In  this  provision  we  see  the 
forecast  of  civilized  man.* 

Among  the  most  important  arcticles  of  husbandry,  we  may 
notice  the  banana,  whose  facility  of  cultivation  and  exuberant 
returns  are  so  fatal  to  habits  of  systematic  and  hardy  industry.' 
Another  celebrated    plant    was    the  cacao,  the   fruit  of   which 

'Torquemada,  Monarch.     Ind.,  lib.  13,  cap.  31. 

"  Admirable  example  for  our  times,"  exclaims  the  good  father,  "  when 
women  are  not  only  unfit  for  the  labors  of  the  field,  but  have  too  much  levity 
to  attend  to  their  own  household  !  " 

^  A  striking  contrast  also  to  the  Egyptians,  with  whom  some  antiquaries 
are  disposed  to  identify  the  ancient  Mexicans.  Sophocles  notices  the  effem- 
inacy of  the  men  in  Egypt,  who  stayed  at  home  tending  the  loom,  while  their 
wives  were  employed  in  severe  labors  out  of  doors. 

^v(ji.v  KareiKacrdivTe  koI  piov  Tpo<pdi. 
'Ekca  yap  oi  fjAv  (Lpcreves  Kara  ar^yai 
QaKovaiv  icrTovpyovvre^  '  ai  oe  ff'JvvofjM 
Td^o)  liiov  rpocpeia  wopcfuvova   dsi." 

SopHOCL.,  CEdip  Col.,  V.  337-341. 

*Torquemada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  13,  cap  32. — Clavigero,  Stor.  del  Mes- 
sico,  torn  II.  pp.  153-155. 

"  Jamas  pedecieron  hambre."  savs  the  former  writer,  sinu  en  pocas  oca- 
siones."  If  these  famines  were  rare,  they  were  very  distressing,  however, 
and  lasted  very  lor.g.  Comp.  Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap  41,  71, 
«t  alibi. 

^  Oviedo  considers  the  musa  an  important:  plant;  and  Hernandez,  in  his 
copious  catalogue,  makes  no  mention  of  it  at  all.  But  Humboldt,  wh(j  has 
given  much  attention  to  it,  concludes,  that  if  some  species  were  brought  into 
the  country,  others  were  indigenous.  (Essai  Politi(jue,  torn.  H.  pi>.  382-388  ) 
If  we  may  credit  Clavigero,  the  bananas  was  the  forbidden  fruit  that  tempted 
our  poor  mother  Eve    I     Stor.  del  Messicc,  torn.  1.  p.  49.   nota. 


112 


AZTEC  CIVILIZATION. 


furnished  the  chocolate, — from  the  Mexican  chocolatl,^-^n<yK  86 
common  a  beverage  throughout  Europe,*  The  vanilla,  confined 
to  a  small  district  of  the  seacoast,  was  used  for  the  same  pur- 
poses, of  flavoring  their  food  and  drink,  as  with  us/  The  great 
staple  of  the  country,  as,  indeed,  of  the  American  continent, 
was  maize,  or  Indian  corn,  which  grew  freely  along  the  valleys, 
and  up  the  steep  sides  of  the  Cordilleras  to  the  high  level  of 
the  table-land.  The  Aztecs  were  as  curious  in  its  preparation, 
and  as  well  intructed  in  its  manifold  uses,  as  the  most  expert 
New  England  housewife.  Its  gigantic  stalks,  in  these  equinoctial 
regions,  afford  a  saccharine  matter,  not  found  to  the  same  ex- 
tent in  northern  latitudes,  and  supplied  the  natives  with  sugar 
little  inferior  to  that  of  the  cane  itself,  which  was  not  intro- 
duced among  them  till  after  the  Conquest.*  But  the  miracle  of 
nature  was  the  great  Mexican  aloe,  or  maguey,  whose  clustering 
pyramids  of  flowers,  towering  above  their  dark  coronals  of 
leaves,  were  seen  sprinkled  over  many  a  broad  acre  of  the 
table-land.  As  we  have  already  noticed,  its  bruised  leaves 
afforded  a  paste  from  which  paper  was  manufactured ;  ^  its  juice 
was  fermented  into  an  intoxicating  beverage, /a/^z/^,  of  which 
the  natives,  to  this  day,  are  excessively  fond ;  ^'"•'  its  leaves 
further  supplied  an  impenetrable  thatch  for  the  more  humble 
dwellings  ;  thread,  of  which  coarse  stuffs  were  made,  and  strong 
cords,  were  drawn  from  its  tough  and  twisted  fibres  ;  pins  and 
needles  were  made  of  the  thorns  at  the  extremity  of  its  leaves; 
and  the  root,  when  properly  cooked,  was  converted  into  a  palat- 
able and  nutritious  food.  The  agave,  in  short,  was  meat,  drink, 
clothing,   and  writing  materials,  for  the  Aztec  !     Surely,  never 


^  Rel.  d'un  gent.,  ap.  Ramusio,  torn  III.  fol.  306. — Hernandez.  De  Historic 
Plantarum  Ncjva;  llispanie,  (Matriti,  1790.)  lib.  6.  cap.  87. 

"  Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nueva  Espana,  lib.  8.  cap.  13,  et  alibi. 

^  Carta  del.  Lie.  Zuazo,  M.S. 

He  extols  the  honey  of  the  maize,  as  equa]  to  that  of  bees. 
(Al.-,o  Oviedo,  Hist.  Naturel  de  las  Indias,  cap.  .'..ap.  Barcia,  torn.  I.)     Her- 
nandez, who  celebrates  the  manifold  ways  in  whicli  llie  maize  was  ]jrepared, 
derives  it  from  the  Haytian  word,  rnahiz.      Hist.  Plantarum,  lib.  6.  cap.  44,  45. 

'■•And  is  still,  in  one  spot  at  least,  .San  Angel, — three  leagues  from  the  cap- 
ital. Anoi.her  mill  was  to  have  been  established,  a  few  years  since,  in  Puebla. 
Whether  this  has  actually  been  done  I  am  ignorant.  See  the  Report  of  the 
Committee  on  .Agriculture  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  March  12, 1838. 

^'  Before  the  Revolution,  the  duties  on  the  fulqiie  formed  so  important  a 
branch  of  revenue,  that  the  cities  of  Mexico,  Puebla,  and  Toluca  alone,  paid 
$8i7,7-;o  to  government.  (Humboldt,  Essai  Politique,  torn.  H.  p.  47.)  It 
requires  tinv^  \n  reconcile  Europeans  to  the  peculiar  flav  i.  of  this  liquor,  on 
the  merits  of  which  th'-v  are  conscqueiitlv  much  divider.  There  is  but  one 
opinion  among  the  natives.  Tlie  English  reader  will  find  a  good  account  of 
its  ni;::.i::;;'-v::-  \v.  W^ir.l'^  M-xico,  vol.  H.  i)]).   "-hu. 


AGRICULTURE. 


"3 


did  Nature  enclose  in  so  compact  a  form   so  many  of  the  ele- 
ments of  human  comfort  and  civilii^ation  !  ^^ 

It  would  be  obviously  out  of  piace  to  enumerate  in  these 
pages  all  the  varieties  of  plants,  many  of  them  of  medicinal 
virtue,  which  have  been  introduced  from  Mexico  into  Europe. 
Still  less  can  I  attempt  a  catalogue  of  its  flowers,  which,  with 
their  variegated  and  gaudy  colors,  form  the  greatest  attraction 
of  our  greenhouses.  The  opposite  climates  embraced  within 
the  narrow  latitudes  of  New  Spain  have  given  to  it  properly, 
the  richest  and  most  diversified  Flora  to  be  found  in  any  country 
on  the  globe.  These  different  products  were  systematically 
arranged  by  the  Aztecs,  who  understood  their  properties,  and 
collected  them  into  nurseries,  more  extensive  than  any  then 
existing  in  the  Old  World.  It  is  not  improbable  that  they 
suggested  the  idea  of  those  "  gardens  of  plants  "  which  were 
introduced  into  Europe  not  many  years  after  the  Conquest." 

The  Mexicans  were  as  well  acquainted  with  the  mineral,  as 
■with  the  vegetable  treasures  of  their  kingdom.  Silver,  lead, 
and  tin  they  drew  from  the  mines  of  Tasco  ;  copper  from  the 
mountains  of  Zacotollan.  These  were  taken  not  only  from  the 
crude  masses  on  the  surface,  but  from  veins  wrought  in  the 
solid  rock,  into  which  they  opened  extensive  galleries.  In  fact, 
the  traces  of  their  labors  furnished  the  best  indications  for  the 
early  Spanish  miners.  Gold,  found  on  the  surface,  or  gleaned 
from  the  beds  of  rivers,  was  cast  into  bars,  or,  in  the  form  of 
dust,  made  part  of  the  regular  tribute  of  the  southern  provinces 

'-  flcrnandc/.  enu'ncratcs  the  several  species  of  tlie  maguey,  which  are  turned 
to  the.-e  manif'jkl  uses,  in  liis  learned  work,  De  Mist.  Plantaruni.  Lib.  7, 
cau.  71  et  seq.)  M.  de  Tluniboldt  considers  them  all  varieties  of  the  agave 
Ai/urua/ui,  familiar  in  the  southern  parts,  both  of  the  United  States  and  Eu- 
rope. (Essai  Politique,  torn.  II  p.  4S7.  et  seq.)  This  opinion  has  brought 
on  h.im  a  rather  sour  rebuke  from  our  countryman,  the  late  Dr.  Perrine,  who 
pronounces  them  a  distinct  species  from  the  American  aguvc: ;  and  regards 
one  of  the  kinds,  the  pifa,  from  which  the  fine  thread  is  obtained,  as  a  totally 
distinct  genus.  (See  the  Report  of  the  Committee  on  Agriculture).  Yet  the 
B;ir')n  tnav  (iiid  authority  for  all  the  properties  ascribed  by  him  to  the  maguey, 
in  the  most  accredited  writers,  who  have  resided  more  or  less  time  in  Mexico. 
See,  among  others,  Hernandez,  ubi  suj^ra. — Sahagim,  Hist,  de  Nticva  Espnfia, 
lib.  9,  cap.  2;  lib.  II,  cap.  7. — Toribio.  Hist,  de  los  Indios,  ^[S.,  Parte  3, 
can.  19  — Carta  del  Lie.  Zuazo,  MS  The  last,  speaking  of  the  maguey, 
wliicti  produces  the  fermented  drink,  says  expressly,  "  De  lo  que  queda  de 
las  dichas  hojas  se  a])rovechan,  conio  dc  lino  inui  delgado,  6  de  Olanda, 
de  rpiehncen  lienzos  mni  primos  para  vestir,  e  bien  delgados."  It  cannot  be 
denied,  however,  that  Dr.  Perrine  shows  himself  intimately  acquainted  with 
the  structure  and  habits  of  the  trojn'cal  plants,  which,  with  such  patriotic 
spirit,  he  proposed  to  introiiucc  into  I'lorida. 

'^  The  first  regular  establishment  of  this  kind,  according  to  Carii,  wa«  »1 
Padua,  in  1545.     Lettres  Am^ric,  torn.  I.  chap.  21. 


114 


AZTEC  civilization: 


of  the  empire.  The  u'"j  of  iron,  with  which  the  soil  was  im. 
pregnated,  was  unl<nown  to  them.  Notwithstanding  its  aburn 
dance,  it  demands  so  many  processes  to  prepare  it  for  use,  that 
it  has  commonly  been  one  of  the  last  metals  pressed  into  the 
service  of  man.  The  age  of  iron  has  followed  that  of  brass,  in 
fact  as  well  as  in  fiction. ^^ 

They  found  a  substitute  in  an  alloy  of  tin  and  copper ;  and, 
with  tools  made  of  this  bronze,  could  cut  not  only  metals,  but, 
with  the  aid  of  a  silicious  dust,  the  hardest  substances,  as  basalt, 
porphyry,  amethysts,  and  emeralds.'''  They  fashioned  tlaese 
last,  which  were  found  very  large,  into  many  curious  and  fan- 
tastic forms.  They  cast,  also,  vessels  of  gold  and  silver,  carv- 
ing them  with  their  metallic  chisels  in  a  very  delicate  manner. 
Some  of  the  silver  vases  were  so  large  that  a  man  could  not 
encircle  them  with  his  arms.  They  imitated  very  nicely  the 
figures  of  animals,  and,  what  was  extraordinary,  could  mix  the 
metals  in  such  a  manner,  that  the  feathers  of  a  bird,  or  the 
scales  of  a  fish,  should  be  alternately  of  gold  and  silver.  The 
Spanish  goldsmiths  admitted  their  superiority  over  themselves 
in  these  ingenious  works. '^ 

1*  P.  Martyr.  De  Orbe  Novo,  Decades,  (Compluti,  1530,)  dec.  5,  p.  191.—' 
Acosta  lib.  4,  cap.  3. — Humboldt,  Essai  Politique,  torn.  III.  pp.  114 — 125. — • 
Torquemada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  13,  cap.  34. 

"  Men  wrought  in  brass,"  says  Hesiod,  ''  when  iron  did  not  exist." 

XaXK<Jj  5*'  cpyd^ovTo  /x^Xas  5'  ovk  iaK%  ai8r}poi. 

Hksiom. 

The  Abbe  Raynai  contends  that  the  ignorance  of  iron  must  necessarily  have 
kept  the  Mexicans  in  a  low  state  of  civilization,  since  without  it  "  they  could 
have  produced  no  work  in  metal,  worth  looking  at,  no  masonry  nor  architect- 
ure, engraving,  nor  sculpture."  (History  of  the  Indies,  Eng.  trans.,  vol.  III. 
b.  6.)  Iron,  however,  if  known,  was  little  used  by  the  Ancient  Egyptians, 
whose  mighty  monuments  were  hewn  with  bronze  tools,  while  their  weapons 
and  domestic  utensils  were  of  the  same  material,  as  appears  from  the  graen 
color  given  to  them  in  their  paintings. 

1^  Gama,  Descripcion,  Parte  2,  pp.  25-29. — Torquemada,  Monarch.  Ind., 
ubi  supra. 

1^  Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nueva  Espafia,  lib.  9,  cap.  15-17. — Boturini,  Idea,  p. 
77.  —  Torquemada,  monarch.  Ind.,  loc.  cit. 

Herrera,  who  says  they  could  also  enamel,  commends  the  skill  of  the  Mex 
ican  goldsmiths  in  making  birds  and  animals  with  movable  wings  and  limbs, 
in  a  most  curious  fashion.  (Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  7,  cap.  15.)  Sir  Joh» 
Maundeville,  as  usual, 

"  with  his  hair  on  end 
At  his  own  wonders," 

notices  the  "  gret  marvayle  "  of  similar  pieces  of  mechanism,  at  the  court  ■>' 
the  grand  Chane  of  Cathay.     See  his  Voiage  and  Travaile,  chap.  20. 


MECHAXICAL  ARTS. 


115 


They  employed  another  tool,  made  of  itztli.,  or  obsidian,  a 
dark  transparent  mineral,  exceedingly  hard,  found  in  abundance 
in  their  hills.  They  made  it  into  knives,  razors,  and  their  ser- 
rated swords.  It  took  a  keen  edge,  though  soon  blunted.  With 
this  they  wrought  the  various  stones  and  alabasters  employed 
in  the  construction  of  their  public  works  and  principal  dwell- 
ings. I  shall  defer  a  more  particular  account  of  these  to  the 
body  of  the  narrative,  and  will  only  add  here,  that  the  entrances 
and  angles  of  the  buildings  were  profusely  ornamented  with  im- 
ages, sometimes  of  their  fantastic  deities,  and  frequently  of 
animals. ^^  The  latter  were  executed  with  great  accuracy. 
"The  former,"  according  to  Torquemada,  '■  were  the  hideous 
reflection  of  their  own  souls.  And  it  was  not  till  after  they  had 
been  converted  to  Christianity,  that  they  could  model  the  true 
figure  of  a  man.''  ^'  The  old  chronicler's  facts  are  well  founded, 
whatever  we  may  think  of  his  reasons.  The  allegorical  phan- 
tasms of  his  religion,  no  doubt,  gave  a  direction  to  the  Aztec 
artist,  in  his  delineation  of  the  human  figure  ;  supplying  him 
with  an  imaginary  beauty  in  the  personification  of  divinity  itself. 
As  these  superstitions  lost  their  hold  on  his  mind,  it  opened  to 
the  influences  of  a  purer  taste  ;  and,  after  the  Conquest,  the 
Mexicans  furnished  many  examples  of  correct,  and  some  of 
beautiful  portraiture. 

Scul]5tured  images  were  so  numerous,  that  the  foundations  of 
the  cathedral  in  \\\q.  plaza  mayor,  the  great  square  of  Mexico,  are 
said  to  be  eiriireh.-  composed  of  them.-'^  This  spot  may,  indeed, 
be  regarded  as  the  Aztec  forum, — the  great  dejjository  of  the 
treasures  of  ancient  sculpture,  which  now  lie  hid  in  its  bosom. 
Such  motiutiienis  are  si^rcacl  all  o\'er  the  capital,  however,  and  a 
new  cellar  can  iiardly  be  dug,  or  foundation  laid,  without  turning 
up  some  of  tlie  mouldering  relics  of  barbaric  art.  But  they  are 
little  heeded,  and,  if  iKjt  v.-antonly  broken  in  pieces  at  once,  are 
usually  worked  into  the  rising  wall,  or  supports  of  the  new 
edifice.''-'  Two  celebrated  bas-reliefs,  of  the  last  iMontezuma 
and  his  father,  cut  in  the  solid  rock,  in  the  beautiful  groves  of 
Chapoltepec,  was  deliberatelv  destroyed,  as  late  as  the  last  cen- 

''  Herrera,  Hi.-,t.  General,  dec.  2,  lil).  7,  cap.  11.  Torqucmaii,:,  Monarch. 
Inil,  lib.   13.  rap,  3}.— (Irima,  I  )csi;rip;  i'Hi,  Parte  2,  \i\\  2-,  2S. 

''  •■  Parece,  qiic  |ierniitia  Dios,  (pu;  la  fiLjurr  de  sns  cuerpos  sd  asimilase  k 
la  tpu;  -.cLiau  sus  alinas,  por  el  jiccaclo,  <n  ipic  sieinpre  ])erinanecian."  Mon- 
arch.  Ind.,  li!).  13.  cap.  3  1. 

'^  ClavigcTo,  St'ir.  del  Mes.sico,  torn.  IT.  p.  195. 

'^  Gama,  r)escrii)ci()n,  Parte  T,  p.  i.  Hcsides  the  f^aza  mayor,  Gama  points 
out  the  Square  of  Tlatelolco,  as  a  great  cemetery  of  ancient  relics.  It  wa« 
^1^  quarter  to  which  tlic  Mexicans  retreated,  on  the  siege  of  the  capital 


,l6  AZTEC  CIVILIZATIOX, 

turyv  by  order  of  tl-',  government!^  The  monuments  of  the 
barbarian  meet  wiili  as  little  respect  from  civilized  man,  as  those 
of  the  civilized  man  from  the  barbarian.^^ 

The  most  remarkable  piece  of  sculpture  yet  disinterred  is  the 
great  calendar-stone,  noticed  in  the  preceding  chapter.  It  con- 
sists of  dark  porphyry,  and,  in  its  original  dimensions,  as  taken 
from  the  quarry,  is  compwted  to  have  weighed  nearly  fifty  tons. 
It  was  transported  from  the  mountains  be3'Ond  Lake  Chalco,  a 
distance  of  many  leagues,  over  a  broken  country  intersected  by 
water-courses  and  canals.  In  crossing  a  bridge  which  traversed 
one  of  these  latter,  in  the  capital,  the  supports  gave  way,  and 
the  huge  mass  was  precipitated  into  the  water,  whence  it  was 
with  difficulty  recovered.  The  fact  that  so  enormous  a  fragment 
of  porphyry  could  be  thus  safely  carried  for  leagues,  in  the  face 
of  such  obstacles,  and  without  the  aid  of  cattle, — for  the  Aztecs, 
as  already  mentioned,  had  no  animals  of  draught, — suggests  to 
us  no  mean  ideas  of  their  mechanical  skill,  and  of  their  ma 
chinery  ;  an*d  implies  a  degree  of  cultivation,  little  inferior  to 
that  demanded  for  the  geometrical  and  astronomical  science  dis- 
played in  the  inscriptions  on  this  very  stone. ^^ 

The  ancient  Mexicans  made  utensils  of  earthern  ware  for  the 
ordinary  purposes  of  domestic  life,  numerous  specimens  of  which 
still  exist.'^^     They  made  cups  and  vases  of  a  lackered  or  painted 

2'J  Torquemada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  13,  cap.  34. — Gama,  Descripcion, 
Parte  2,  pp.  81-83. 

These  statues  are  repeatedly  noticed  by  the  old  writers.  The  last  was 
destroyed  in  1754,  when  it  was  seen  by  Gama,  who  highly  commends  the 
execution  of  it.     Ibid. 

21  This  wantonness  of  destruction  provokes  the  bitter  animadversion  of 
Martyr,  whose  enlightened  mind  respected  the  vestiges  of  civilization  wher- 
ever found.  "  The  conquerors,"  he  says,  "  seldom  repaired  tlie  buildings 
that  were  defaced.  They  woula  rather  sack  twenty  stately  cities,  than 
erect  one  good  edifice."     De  Orbe  Novo,  dec.  5,  cap.  10. 

■^■^  Gama,  Descripcion,  Parte  I.  pp.  110-114. — Humboldt,  Essai  Politique, 
tom,  11,  p.  40. 

Ten  thousand  men  were  employed  in  the  transportation  of  this  enormous 
mass,  according  to  Tezozomoc,  whose  narrative,  with  all  the  accompanying 
prodigies,  is  minutely  transcribed  by  Bustamante.  The  Licentiate  shows  an 
appetite  for  the  marvellous,  which  might  excite  the  envy  of  a  monk  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  (.See  Descripcion,  nota,  loc.  cit. )  The  English  traveller, 
Latrobe,  accommodates  the  wonders  of  nature  and  art  very  well  to  each  other 
by  suggesting  that  these  great  masses  of  stone  were  transported  by  means  of 
the  mastodon,  whose  remains  are  occasionally  disinterred  in  the  Mexican 
Valley.      Rambler  in  Mexico,  p.  145. 

'^-■^  .\  great  collection  of  ancient  pottery,  with  various  other  specimens  of 
Aztec  art,  the  gift  of  Messrs  Poinsett  "and  Keating,  is  deposited  in  the 
Cabinet  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  at  Philadelphia.  .Sec  the 
Catalogue,  ap.  Transactions,  vol.  III.  p.  510. 


MECHANICAL  ARTS.  ny 

wood,  impervious  to  wet  and  gaudily  colored.  Their  dyes  were 
obtained  from  both  mineral  and  vegetable  substances.  Among 
them  was  the  rich  crimson  of  the  cochineal,  the  modern  rival  of 
the  famed  Tyrian  purple.  It  was  introduced  into  Europe  from 
Mexico,  where  the  curious  little  insect  was  nc;:  ished  with  great 
care  on  plantations  of  cactus,  since  fallen  into  neglect.!^  The 
nati\es  were  thus  enabled  to  give  a  brilliant  coloring  to  the  webs, 
which  were  manufactured  of  every  degree  of  fineness,  from  the 
cotton  raised  in  abundance  throughout  the  warmer  regions  of  the 
country.  They  had  the  art.  also,  of  interweaving  with  these  the 
delicate  hair  of  rabbits  and  other  animals,  v.hich  made  a  cioth 
of  great  warmth  as  well  as  btauty,  of  a  kind  altogether  original ; 
and  on  this  they  often  laid  a  rich  embroidery,  of  birds,  flowers 
or  some  other  fanciful  device.^ 

But  the  art  in  which  they  most  delighted  was  their  plumaje. 
or  feather-work.  With  this  they  could  produce  all  the  effect  of 
a  beautiful  mosaic.  The  gorgeous  plumage  of  the  tropical  birds, 
especially  of  the  parrot  tribe,  afforded  every  variety  of  color  ; 
and  the  fine  down  of  the  hummingbird,  which  revelled  in  swarms 
among  the  honeysuckle  bowers  of  Mexico,  supplied  them  with 
soft  aerial  tints  that  gave  an  exquisite  finish  to, the  picture.  The 
feathers,  pasted  on  a  fine  cotton  web,  were  wrought  into  dresses 
for  the  wealthv.  hangings  for  apartments,  and  ornaments  for  the 
temples.  No  one  of  the  American  fabrics  excited  such  admi- 
ration in  F.urope.  whither  numerous  specimens  were  sent  b}  the 
C"nqueror>.  It  is  to  be  regretted,  tb.at  so  graceful  an  art  should 
have  been  suffered  to  fall  into  decay.-'^ 

There  were  no  shops  in  Mexico.  Iiutthe  various   manufactures 

^  Mcrnandez,  Hist.  Pi;uuarn;ii.  lib.  6,  cap.  ii6. 

'^^Cartadel  Lie.  Ziiazo,  MS. — Herrcra.  Hist.  General, dec.  2,  lib.  7  cap.  15. 
— Boturini.  Idea,  p.  77. 

It  is  doubtful  how  far  they  were  acquainted  with  the  manufacture  of  silk. 
Carli  sujiposes  that  what  Cortes  calls  silk  was  only  the  fine  texture  of  hair, 
or  d'^wn.  mentioned  in  the  text.  (Lcttres  Americ. .  torn.  1.  let.  2\.)  But  it 
is  certain  they  had  a  species  of  catci pillar,  unlike  our  siii^wnrm,  indeed, 
which  spun  a  thread  that  was  sold  in  th;  markets  of  ancient  Mexico.  See 
the  Essai  Politique,  (torn.  III.  pp.  66-69,)  where  M.  de  Humboldt  ha>  col- 
lected some  intcrcstin'j;  facts  in  regard  to  the  culture  of  silk  bv  the  Aztecs. 
Siiil.  that  the  fabric  should  be  matter  of  uncertaintv  at  all  shows  that  it  could 
n'-it  have  reached  any  great  excellence  or  extent. 

-  Carta  del  Lie.  Zuazo,  MS. -— .'\costa,  lib.  4.  cap.  37. — Sahagun,  Hist,  de 
Nucva  Es[)aha,  \\'n.  9,  cud.  18-21. — 'Poribio.  IJist  de  kjs  Indios,  MS..  Parte 
I,  cap.   15, — Rel.  d'un  gent.,    ap.  Ramusio,  torn.  III.  fol.  306. 

Count  Carli  is  in  rantures  with  a  specimen  of  feather-painting  which  he 
saw  in  Strasbourg.  "  Never  did  I  behold  anything  so  exquisite,"  he  says, 
"  frjr  brillancv  and  nice  gradation  of  color,  and  for  Ijeauty  "f  design.  No 
European  artist  couid  have    made   such  a  thing  "     ( Lettres  .Amt'ric.,    let.  21. 


«i8 


AZTEC  CIVILIZATION. 


and  agricultural  products  were  brought  together  for  sale  in  the 
great  market-places  of  the  principal  cities.  Fairs  were  held 
there  every  fifth  day,  and  were  thronged  by  a  numerous  con- 
course of  persons,  who  came  to  buy  or  sell  from  all  the  neigh- 
boring  country.  A  particular  quarter  was  allotted  to  each  kind 
of  article.  The  numerous  transactions  were  conducted  without 
confusion,  and  with  entire  regard  to  justice,  under  the  inspec- 
tion of  magistrates  appointed  for  the  purpose.  The  traffic  was 
carried  on  partly  by  barter,  and  partly  by  means  of  a  regulated 
currency,  of  different  values.  This  consisted  of  transparent 
quills  of  gold  dust ;  of  bits  of  tin,  cut  in  the  form  of  a  T  ;  and  of 
bags  of  cacao,  containing  a  specified  number  of  grains.  "  Blessed 
money,"  exclaims  Peter  Martyr,  "  which  exempts  its  possessors 
from  avarice,  since  it  cannot  be  long  hoarded,  nor  hidden  under 
ground  !  "  2" 

There  did  not  exist  in  Mexico  that  distinction  of  castes  found 
among  the  Egyptian  and  Asiatic  nations.  It  was  usual,  how- 
ever, for  the  son  to  follow  the  occupation  of  his  father.  The 
different  trades  were  arranged  into  something  like  guilds  ;  hav- 
ing, each,  a  particular  district  of  the  city  appropriated  to  it,  with 
its  own  chief,  its  own  tutelar  deity,  its  peculiar  festivals,  and  the 
like.  Trade  was  held  in  avowed  estimation  by  the  Aztecs. 
'*  Apply  thvself,  my  son,"  was  the  advice  of  an  aged  chief,  "  to 
agriculture,  or  to  feather-work,  or  some  other  honorable  calling. 
Thus  did  your  ancestors  before  you.  Else,  how  would  they  have 
provided  for  themselves  and  their  families  ?  Never  was  it  heard 
that  nobility  alone  was  able  to  maintain  its  possessor."  ^  Shrewd 
maxims,  that  must  have  sounded  somewhat  strange  in  the  ear  of 
a  Spanish  hidalgo!  "  20 

note.)  There  is  still  one  place,  Patzquaro,  where,  according  to  Bustamante, 
they  preserve  some  knowledge  of  this  interesting  art,  though  it  is  practised 
on  a  very  limited  scale,  and  at  great  cost.      Sahagun,  ubi  supra,  nota. 

^"O  felicem  monetam,  quae  suavem  utilemque  praebet  humano  generi 
potum,  et  a  tartareu  peste  avaritiae  sous  immunes  servat  possessores,  quod 
suffodi  aut  diu  servari  nequeat  !  "  De  Orbe  Novo,  dec.  5,  cap.  4. — (See,  also. 
Carta  de  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana,  p,  100  et  seq. — Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nueva 
Espana,  lib.  S,  cap.  36. — Toribio,  Hist,  de  los  Indios,  MS.,  Parte  3,  cap.  &, 
— Carta  del  Lie.  Zuazo,  MS.)  The  substitute  for  money  throughout  the 
Chinese  empire  was  equallv  simple  in  Marco  Polo's  time,  consisting  of  bits 
of  stamped  paper,  made  from  the  inner  bark  of  the  mulberry-tree.  See 
Viaggi  di  Messer  Marco  Polo,  gentil'huomo  Venetiano,  lib.  2,  cap.  18,  ap. 
Ramnsio,  tont.  IT. 

^^  "  Procurad  de  saber  algun  o/ia'o  konroso  como  es  el  hacer  obras  de  pluma 

fc  otros  oficio.s  mecBnicos Mirad  (]ue  tengaij ''.lidado  de    lo  tocante 

&  la  agriculiura En   ninguna  parte  he  visto  r.ae  alguno   se  mantenga 

por  su  nobleza.''      Sahagim,  Hist,  de  Nueva  Esnatia,  V\h.  6,  cap.  17. 

^-'Col.  de  Mendo7.a,  ap  Antiq.  of  ^^exi(■o.  vof.  I.  PI.  71;  vcjI.  VI.  p.  86.— 
Torquemada,  Monarch.   Ind.,  lili-  2    cup.  41. 


MERCHAxXTS.  i  ig 

But  the  occupation  peculiarly  respected  was  that  of  the  merch- 
ant. It  formed  so  important  and  singular  a  feature  of  their 
social  economy,  as  to  merit  a  much  more  particular  notice  than 
it  has  received  from  historians.  The  Aztec  merchant  was  a  sort 
of  itinerant  trader,  who  made  his  journeys  to  the  remotest 
borders  of  Anahuac,  and  to  the  countries  beyond,  carrying 
with  him  merchandise  of  rich  stuffs,  jewelry,  slaves,  and  other 
valuable  commodities.  The  slaves  were  obtained  at  the  great 
market  of  Azcapozalco,  not  many  leagues  from  the  capital,  where, 
fairs  were  regularly  held  for  the  sale  of  these  unfortunate  beings. 
They  were  brought  thither  by  their  masters,  dressed  in  their 
gayest  apparel,  and  instructed  to  sing,  dance,  and  display  their 
little  stock  of  personal  accomplishments,  so  as  to  recommend 
themselves  to  the  purchaser.  Slave-dealing  was  an  honorable 
calling  among  the  Aztecs.*' 

With  this  rich  freight,  the  merchant  visited  the  different 
provinces,  always  bearing  some  present  of  value  from  his  own 
sovereign  to  their  chiefs,  and  usually  receiving  others  in  return, 
with  a  permission  to  trade.  Should  this  be  denied  him,  or 
should  he  meet  with  indignity  or  violence,  he  had  the  means  of 
resistance  in  his  power.  He  performed  his  journeys  with  a 
number  of  companions  of  his  own  rank,  and  a  large  body  of 
inferior  attendants  who  were  employed  to  transport  the  goods. 
Fifty  or  sixty  pounds  were  the  usual  load  for  a  man.  The 
whole  caravan  went  armed,  and  so  well  provided  against  sud- 
den hostilities,  that  they  could  make  good  their  defence,  if 
necessary,  till  reinforced  from  home.  In  one  instance,  a  body 
of  these  militant  traders  stood  a  siege  of  four  years  in  the  town 
of  Ayotlan,  which  they  finally  took  from  the  enemy. 3i  Their 
own  government,  however,  was  always  prompt  to  embark  in  a 
war  on  this  ground,  finding  it  a  very  convenient  pretext  for  ex- 
tending the  Mexican  empire.  It  was  not  unusual  to  allow  the 
merchants  to  raise  levies  themselves,  which  were  placed  under 
their  command.  It  was,  moreover,  very  common  for  the  prince 
to  employ  the  merchants  as  a  sort  of  spies,  to  furnish  him  infor- 
mation of  the  state  of  the  countries  through  which  they  passed, 
and  the  dispositions  of  the  inhabitants  towards  himself. s-J 

Thus  their  sphere  of  action  was  much  enlarged  beyond  that  of 
a  humblt;  trader,  and  they  acquired  a  high  consideration  in  the 
body  politic.     They  were  allowed  to  assume  insignia  and  devices 

"o  Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nucva  Kspana,  lib.  9.  cap.  4,  10-14. 

"'   Ibid.,  lib.  9,  cap.  2. 

•■^  Ibid.,  lib.  9,  caj).  2,  4. 

In  the  Mend(jza  C!odex  is  a  painting,  representing  the  execution  of  a  cacique 
and  his  faniilv,  with  the  destruction  r)f  his  city,  for  maltreating  the  persons  of 
Jome  Aztec  merchants.     Antiq.  of  IVIexico,  vol.  I.  PI.  67 


I20  AZTEC  CIVILIZATION. 

of  their  own.  Some  of  their  number  composed  what  is  caUed 
by  the  Spanish  writers  a  council  of  finance  ;  at  least,  this  was 
the  case  in  Tezcuco.^  They  were  much  consulted  by  the  mon- 
arch, who  had  some  of  them  constantly  near  his  person  ;  address- 
ing them  by  the  title  of  "uncle,"  which  may  remind  one  of  that 
Qi  prima,  or  "  cousin  "  by  which  a  grandee  of  Spain  is  saluted  by 
his  sovereign.  They  were  allowed  to  have  their  own  courts,  in 
which  civil  and  criminal  cases,  not  excepting  capital,  were  deter- 
mined ;  so  that  they  formed  an  independent  community,  as  it 
were,  of  themselves.  And,  as  their  various  traffic  supplied  them 
with  abundant  stores  of  wealth,  they  enjoyed  many  of  the  most 
essential  advantages  of  an  hereditary  aristocracy.** 

That  trade  should  prove  the  path  to  eminent  political  pre- 
ferment in  a  nanon  but  partially  civilized,  where  the  names  of 
soldier  and  pri-^st  are  usually  the  only  titles  to  respect,  is  cer- 
tainly an  anomalv  in  history.  It  forms  some  contrast  to  the 
standard  of  the  more  polished  monarchies  of  the  Old  World,  in 
which  rank  is  supposed  to  be  less  dishonored  by  a  lite  of  idle 
ease  or  frivolous  pleasure,  than  by  those  active  pursuits  which 
promote  equally  the  prosperity  of  the  state  and  of  the  individual. 
If  civilization  corrects  many  prejudices,  it  must  be  aliowed  that 
it  creates  oiliers. 

We  snail  be  abl:^  to  form  a  better  idea  of  the  actual  refine- 
ment of  the  natives,  by  penetrating  into  their  domestic  life  and 
observing  the  intercourse  between  the  sexes.  We  have  fortu- 
nately the  means  of  doing  this.  We  shall  there  find  the  ferocious 
Aztec  frequently  displaying  all  the  sensibilitv  of  a  cultivated 
nature  ;  consoling  his  friends  under  affliction,  or  congratulating 
them  on  their  good  fortune,  as  on  occasion  of  a  marriage,  or  of 
the  birth  or  rhe  baptism  of  a  child,  v.'hen  he  was  punctilious  in 
his  visits,  bringing  presents  of  costlv  dresses  and  ornaments,  or 
the  more  simple  offering  of  fiovvers,  equally  indicative  of  his 
sympathy.     'i"he  visits,  at  these  times,  though  regulated  with  all 

s^Torquemaila,  M  jiiarch.  Ind.,  lib.  2,  cap.  41. 

Ixtlilxochitl  j'\  e.-;  a  curious  story  of  >.>ne  of  the  royal  familv  of  Tezcuco.  who 
off-^recl,  with  two  other  merchants  otros  mcrcuderes,  to  visit  the  court  of  a  hos- 
tile cacique,  and  bring  him  dead  or  alive  to  the  capital.  They  availed  them- 
selves of  a  drunken  revel,  at  which  thev  were  to  have  been  sacrificed,  to  effect 
their  object.      Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.' 62. 

■*'  Sahagun,  Hist,  dc  N"ueva  Esiiafia,  lib.  9,  cap.  2,  5. 

'I  lie  r.iiuh  liook  is  taken  up  with  an  account  of  the  merchants,  their  pilgrim- 
ages, the  rciicrious  rites  on  their  departure,  and  the  f'-mptuous  way  of  living 
on  their  r?!;-!!.  The  whole  T)resents  a  verv  remark  .jie  picture,  showing  they 
enjoyed  a  consi-leration,  amon.Gi;  the  lialf-civilized  nations  of  Anahuac,  to  which 
there  is  no  ]5arailel.  unless  it  be  that  possessed  by  the  merchant-princes  of  aa 
Italian  republic,  or  the  princely  merchanf;  of  our  own. 


DOMESTIC  MANNERS.  12 1 

the  precision  of  Oriental  courtesy,  were  accompanied  by  expres- 
sions of   tlae  most  cordial  and  affectionate  regard.* 

The  discipline  of  children,  especially  at  the  public  schools, 
as  stated  in  a  previous  chapter,  was  exceedingly  severe.*^  But 
after  she  had  come  to  a  mature  age,  the  Aztec  maiden  was 
treated  by  her  parents  with  a  tenderness,  from  which  all  reserve 
seemed  banished.  In  the  counsels  to  a  daughter  about  to  enter 
into  life,  they  conjured  her  to  preserve  simplicity  in  her  manners 
and  conversation,  uniform  neatness  in  her  attire,  with  strict  at- 
tention to  personal  cleanliness.  They  inculcated  modesty,  as 
the  great  ornament  of  a  woman,  and  implicit  reverence  for  her 
husband  ;  softening  their  admonitions  by  such  endearing  epithets 
as  showed  the  fullness  of  a  parent's  love,'^' 

Polygamy  was  permitted  among  the  Mexicans,  though  chiefly 
confined,  probably,  to  the  wealthiest  classes.^  And  the  ob- 
ligations of  the  marriage  vow,  which  was  made  with  all  the 
formality  of  a  religious  ceremony,  were  fully  recognized,  and 
impressed  on  both  parties.  The  women  are  described  by  the 
Spaniards  as  pretty,  unlike  their  unfortunate  descendants,  of  the 

^  Sahai^un,  Hist,  de  Nueva  Espafia,  lib.  6,  cap,  23-37. — Camargo,  Hist,  de 
Tlasca]a,"MS, 

These  complinientarv  attentions  were  paid  at  stated  seasons,  even  during 
pregnancy.  The  details  are  given  with  abundant  gravity  and  minuteness  by 
Sahagun,  who  descends  to  paiticulars  which  his  Mexican  editor,  Bustamante, 
has  excluded,  as  somewhat  too  unreserved  for  the  public  eve.  If  thev  were 
more  so  than  some  of  the  editor's  own  notes,  they  must  have  been  verv  com- 
municative indeed. 

*' Zurita.  Rajiport,  pp.  1 12-134. 

The  Third  Part  of  the  Clol.  de  Mendoza  (Antiq,  of  Mexico,  vol.  I.)  exhibits 
the  various  ingenious  punishments  devised  for  the  refractory  child.  The  flow- 
ery path  of  knowledge  was  well  strewed  with  thorns  for  the  Mexican  tyro. 

•■"  Zurita.  Rapport,  pp,  151-160. 

Sahagun  has  given  us  the  admonitions  of  both  father  and  mother  to  the 
Aztec  maiden,  on  her  coming  to  years  of  discretion.  What  can  be  more  ten- 
der than  the  begirining  of  the  mother's  exh(jrtatior.  ?  ''  Hija  mia  muy  amada, 
muv  querida  palomita:  va  has  oido  y  notado  las  palabras  que  tu  senor  padre 
te  ha  dicho:  ellas  son  palabras  preciosas.  y  que  raramente  se  dicen  ni  se  oyen, 
las  quales  lian  iirocedido  de  las  entranas  v  corazon  en  ([ueestaban  atesoradas  ; 
y  tu  muv  aniacio  padre  bicn  sabe  que  eres  su  hija,  engendra  de  tM,  eres  su 
sar.gre  v  su  i:;irr]'.-,  v  sabe  iJios  nuestro  sencjr  (|ue  es  asi ;  auncpic  crt  s  muger, 
e  imugen  de  ui  padre?  rjinj  mas,  te  puedo  decir,  hija  mia,  de  lo  ciue  ya  esta 
di'.ho?"  (Hist,  de  Xueva  r^s]")ana  lilj.  6,  cap.  19.)  The  reader  will  find  this 
interesting  docmTient.  which  enjoins  so  nnich  of  what  is  deemed  most  essential 
among  civilizerl  nations,  translated  entire  in  the  Atl^endix,  l\irt  2,  iXo  \. 

^  Vet  we  finfi  the  remarkable  declaration,  in  the  counsels  of  a  father  to  nis 
son.  that,  for  the  multiplication  of  the  species.  Hod  ordained  one  •.nan  onlv 
for  one  wfjinan.  "'  \f)ta,  hijo  mio,  lo  <|ue  te  digo,  mira  (pic  el  numdo  ya 
tiene  este  estilo  df:  eiigendrar  v  multiplicar,  y  para  esta  generacion  v  mul 
tiplicacion.  ordeno  ])ios  (]ue  una  mn^er  i>c- ■^'"  de  un  varon,  y  un  varon  de  oa* 
Biuger,"     Ibid.  lib.  6;  cap.  21. 


122 


AZTEC  CIVILIZATIOX. 


present  day,  though  ;;ith  ihe  same  serious  and  rather  melancholy 
cast  of  countenan^^i.  1  heir  long  black  hair,  covered  in  some 
parts  of  the  country,  by  a  veil  made  of  the  fine  web  of  the  pita, 
might  generally  be  seen  wreathed  with  flowers,  or,  among  the 
richer  people,  with  strings  of  precious  stones,  and  pearls  from 
the  Gulf  of  California.  They  appear  to  have  been  treated  with 
much  consideration  by  their  husbands  ;  and  passed  their  time  in 
indolent  tranquillity,  or  in  such  feminine  occupations  as  spinning, 
embroidery,  and  the  like  ;  while  their  maidens  beguiled  the  hours 
by  the  rehearsal  of  traditionary  tales  and  ballads.-^ 

The  women  partook  equally  with  the  men  of  social  festivities 
and  entertainments.  These  were  often  conducted  on  a  large 
scale,  both  as  regards  the  number  of  guests  and  the  costliness  of 
the  preparations.  Numerous  attendants,  of  both  sexes,  waited 
at  the  banquet.  The  halls  were  scented  with  perfumes,  and 
the  courts  strewed  with  odoriferous  herbs  and  flowers,  which 
were  distributed  in  profusion  among  the  guests,  as  they  arrived. 
Cotton  napkins  and  ewers  of  water  were  placed  before  them,  as 
they  took  their  seats  at  the  board ;  for  the  venerable  ceremony 
of  ablution,*^  before  and  after  eating,  was  punctiliously  observed 
by  the  Aztecs. ^^  Tobacco  was  then  offered  to  the  company,  in 
pipes,  mixed  up  with  aromatic  substances,  or  in  the  form  of 
cigars,  inserted  in  tubes  of  tortoise-shell  or  silver.  They  com- 
pressed   the    nostrils  with    the    fingers,  while  they  inhaled   the 

"^Ibid.,  lib.  6,  cap.  21-23;  '''^  ^?  cap.  23. — Rel.  d'un  gent.,  ap  Ramusio, 
torn.  III.  fol.  305. — Carta  del  Lie.  Zuazo.  MS. 

*^  As  old  as  the  heroic  age  of  Greece,  at  least.  We  may  fancy  ourselves  at 
the  table  of  Penelope,  where  water  in  golden  ewers  was  poured  into  silver 
basins  for  the  accommodation  of  her  guests,   before  beginning  the  repast. 

"Xe'pi'iua  5"    du.<piwo\os  irpoxoifi  ^7r^%€i;e  (pipovaa 
KaXif,  xpv'^^^'Ot  VTT^p  dpyvp^oio  \df3tjros, 
'^hpaaOai.  '  irapb.  8k  ^ecrr'qv  irdvvacre  Tpdirei^ai/. 

The  feast  affords  many  other  points  of  analogy  to  the  Aztec,  inferring  a  similar 
stage  of  civilization  in  the  two  nations.  One  may  be  surprised,  however, 
to  find  a  greater  profusion  of  the  precious  metals  in  the  barren  isle  of  Ithaca, 
than  in  Mexico.     But  the  poet's  fancy  was  a  richer  mine  than  either. 

*i  Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nueva  EsjDana,  lib.  6,  cap.  22. 

Amidst  some  excellent  advice  of  a  parent  to  his  son,  on  his  general  deport- 
ment, we  find  the  latter  punctilously  enjoined  not  to  take  his  seat  at  the  board 
till  he  has  washed  his  face  and  hands,  and  not  to  leave  it  till  he  has  repeated 
the  same  thing,  and  cleansed  his  teeth.  Tlie  directions  are  given  with  a  pre- 
cision worthy  of  an  Asiatic.  "  Al  principio  de  la  comida  labarte  has  las  manos 
y  la  boca.  v  dnnde  te  juntares  con  otros  a  comer,  no  te  sientes  luego  ;  mas 
antes  tomaras  el  agua  v  la  jicara  para  que  se  leben  los  otros,  y  echarles  has 
agua  a  los  manos,  y  despues  de  esto,  cojera  lo  que  sa  ha  caido  por  el  suelo  y 
barreras  el  lugar,  de  la  comida  y  tambien  despues  de  comer  lavaras  te  Ja.s 
ttanos  y  la  boca,  y  limpiar&fi  los  dientes."     Ibid.,  loc.  cit. 


DOMESTIC  MAXXKRS. 


123 


smoke,  which  they  frequently  swallowed.  Whether  the  women, 
who  sat  apart  from  the  men  at  table,  were  allowed  the  indulgence 
of  the  fragrant  weed,  as  in  the  most  polished  circles  of  modern 
Mexico,  is  not  told  us.  It  is  a  curious  fact,  that  the  Aztecs  also 
took  the  dried  leaf  in  the  pulverized  form  of  snuif.** 

The  table  was  well  provided  with  substantial  meats,  especially 
game  ;  among  which  the  most  conspicuous  was  the  turkey,  er- 
roneously supposed,  as  its  name  imports,  to  have  come  originally 
from  the  East.*^  These  more  solid  dishes  were  flanked  by 
others  of  vegetables  and  fruits,  of  every  delicious  variety  found 
on  the  North  American  continent.  The  different  viands  were 
prepared  in  various  ways,  with  delicate  sauces  and  seasoning,  ot 
which  the  Mexicans  were  very  fond.  Their  palate  was  still 
further  regaled  by  confections  and  pastry,  for  which  their  maize- 
flour  and  sugar  supplied  ample  materials.  One  other  dish,  of  a 
disgusting  nature,  was  sometimes  added  to  the  feast,  especially 
when  the  celebration  partook  of  a  religious  character.  On  such 
occasions   a   slave    was    sacrificed,   and    his    flesh,   elaborately 

*- Rel.  d'un  gent.,  ap.  Ramusio,  torn.  III.  fol.  306. — Sahagun,  Hist.  d< 
Nueva  Espana,  lib.  4,  cap.  37. — 'rorqiiemada.  Monarcli.  Ind.,  lib.  13,  cap 
23. — Clavigero,  Stor.  del  ^lessico,  torn.  II.  p.  227. 

The  Aztecs  used  to  smoke  after  dinner,  to  prepare  for  the  siesta,  in  which 
they  indulged  themselves  as  regularly  as  an  old  Caslilian. — Tobacco,  in  Mex- 
ican _}'^//,  is  derived  from  a  Haytian  word,  tabaco.  The  natives  of  Hispaniola, 
being  the  fir,-t  with  whom  the  Spaniards  had  much  intercourse,  have  sup- 
plied Europe  with  the  names  of  several  important  plants. — Tobacco,  in  some 
form  or  other,  was  used  by  almost  all  the  tril^es  of  the  American  continent, 
from  the  North-west  Coast  to  Patagonia.  (See  McCuUoh,  Researches,  pi). 
91-94.)  Its  manifold  virtues,  both  social  and  medicinal,  are  profusely  pane- 
gyrized by  Hernandez,  in  his  Hist.  Plantarum,  lib.  2,  cap.  109. 

**  This  noble  bird  was  introduced  into  Europe  from  Mexico.  The  Span- 
ish called  it  gallopavo,  from  its  resemblance  to  the  peacock.  See  Rei.  d'un 
gent.,  ap.  Ramusio,  (torn.  HI.  fol.  306)  ;  also  Oviedo,  (Rel.  Sumaria,  cap. 
38,)  the  earliest  naturalist  who  gives  an  account  of  the  bird,  which  he  saw 
Boon  after  the  CoiK|uest,  in  the  West  Indies,  whither  it  had  been  brought,  as 
he  says,  from  Xew  Sj^ain.  The  Europeans,  however,  soon  lost  sight  of  it- 
origin,  and  the  name  "  turkey  "  intimated  the  popular  belief  of  its  Easterr. 
origin.  Several  eminent  writers  have  maintained  its  Asiatic  or  African  de- 
•cent;  but  they  could  not  impose  on  the  sagacious  and  better  instructed  Biii- 
fon.  (See  I  listoire  Naturelle,  Art.  Dindon.)  The  Spaniards  saw  immei!  ■ 
numbers  of  turkeys  in  the  domesticated  state,  on  their  arrival  in  Mexico,  when, 
they  were  more  common  than  anv  other  poultry.  They  were  found  wild,  no' 
only  in  New  Sj^ain,  but  all  along  the  continent,  in  the  less  fioiuented  place.'-., 
from  the  North-western  territory  of  the  United  States  tcj  i'anania.  The  wii'': 
turkey  is  larger,  more  bcautiliil,  and  every  way  an  iiicduiparabl v  fmer  bir.,. 
than  the  tame.  I'Vaiiklin,  with  some  point,  as  well  a-^  i)leasantry,  insists  on 
its  preference  to  the  bald  eagle,  as  the  national  emblem.  (See  his  Works,  vol. 
X.  p.  63,  in  SjKirks's  excellent  ctliti'in.)  interesting  notices  of  the  histoiv 
anfl  habits  of  the  wild  turkey  ma?  l;e  found  in  the  Ornithology  both  of  linon.i- 
parte  and  of  that  enthusiastic  lover  of  nature,  .\uduljoii,  vox  Melcagris  Gallt;- 
pa-o. 


J 2 4.  AZ^EC  CIVILIZATION. 

dressed,  forme  '.  jn''  jf  the  chief  ornaments  of  the  banquet.  Can* 
nibalism,  in  the  guise  of  an  Epicurean  science,  becomes  even 
the  more  revolting.** 

The  meats  were  kept  warm  by  chafing-dishes.  The  table  was 
ornamented  with  vases  of  silver,  and  sometimes  gold,  of  delicate 
workmanship.  The  drinking  cups  and  spoons  were  of  the  same 
costly  materials,  and  likewise  of  tortoise-shell.  The  favorite 
beverage  was  the  Chocolatl,  flavored  with  vanilla  and  different 
spices.  They  had  a  way  of  preparing  the  froth  of  it,  so  as  to 
make  it  almost  solid  enough  to  be  eaten,  and  took  it  cold.*"  The 
fermented  juice  of  the  maguey,  with  a  mixture  of  sweets  and 
acids,  supplied,  also,  various  agreeable  drinks,  of  different  de- 
grees of  strength,  and  formed  the  chief  beverage  of  the  elder 
part  of  the  company.* 

As  soon  as  they  had  finished  their  repast,  the  young  people 
rose  from  the  table,  to  close  the  festivities  of  the  day  with  dancing. 
They  danced  gracefully,  to  the  sound  of  various  instruments, 
accompanying  their  movements  with  chants,  of  a  pleasing,  though 
somewhat  plaintive  character.*'     The  older  guests  continued  at 

*'  Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nueva  Espana,  lib.  4,  cap.  2il  \  'i'--  8,  cap.  13  ;  9, 
cap.  10-14. — Torquemada,  Monarcli.  Ind.,  lib.  13,  cap.  23. — Rel.  d'  un 
gent.,  ap.   Ramusio,  torn.  III.  fol.  306. 

Father  Sahagun  has  gone  into  many  particulars  of  the  Aztec  cuisine,  and 
the  mode  of  preparing  sundry  savory  messes,  making,  altogether,  no  despic- 
able contribution  to  the  noble  science  of  gastronomy, 

■*"  The  froth,  delicately  flavored  with  spices  and  some  other  ingredients, 
was  taken  cold  by  itself.  It  had  the  consistency  almost  of  a  solid  ;  and  the 
*'  Anonymous  Conqueror,"  is  very  careful  to  inculcate  the  importance  of 
"  opening  the  mouth  wide,  in  order  to  facilitate  deglutition,  that  the  foam 
may  dissolve  gradually,  and  descend  imperceptibly,  as  it  were,  into  the 
stomach."  It  was  so  nutritious  that  a  single  cup  of  it  was  enough  to  sus- 
tain a  man  through  the  longest  day's  inarch.  (Fol.  306.)  The  old  soldier 
discusses  the  beverage  con  a?nore. 

•iS  Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nueva  E;  pafia,  lib.  4,  cap.  37;  lib,  8,  cap.  13. — Tor- 
quemada, -.ionarch.  Ind.,  lib.  13,  cap.  23. — ^Rel.  d'  un  gent.,  ap.  Ramusio, 
torn.  III.  fol.  306. 

■*"  Herrera,  Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  7,  cap.  8. — Torquemada,  Monarch. 
Ind.,  lib.  14,  cap.  11, 

The  Mexican  nobles  entertained  minstrels  in  their  houses,  who  composed 
ballads  suited  to  the  times,  or  the  achievements  of  their  lord,  which  they 
chanted,  to  the  accompaniment  of  instruments,  at  the  festivals  and  dances. 
Indeed,  their  was  more  or  less  dancing  at  most  of  the  festivals,  and  it  was 
performed  in  the  court-yards  of  the  houses,  or  in  the  open  squares  of  the 
city.  (Ibid.,  ubi  supra.)  The  principal  men  had,  also,  buffoons  and  jug- 
glers in  there  service,  who  amused  them,  and  astonished  the  Spaniards  by 
their  feats  of  dexterity  and  strength;  (Acosta,  lib.  6,  cap.  28;)  also  Clavi- 
gero,  Stor.  del  Messico,  tom.  II.  pp.  179-186,)  who  has  designed  several  re{> 
resentations  of  their  exploits,  truly  surprising.  It  is  natural  that  a  people 
of  limited  refinement  should  find  their  enjoyment  in  material,  rather  than  in- 
tellectual pleasures,  and,  consequently,  should  excel  in  them.  The  Asiatic  na 


DOMESTIC  MANNERS^ 


l«$ 


table,  sipping  pulque,  and  gossiping  about  other  times,  till  th© 

virtues  of  the  exhilarating  beverage  put  them  in  good-humor  with 
their  own.  Intoxication  was  noi:  rare  in  this  part  of  the  company, 
and,  what  is  singular,  was  excused  in  them,  though  severely  pun« 
ished  in  the  younger.  The  entertainment  was  concluded  by  « 
liberal  distribution  of  rich  dresses  and  ornaments  among  the 
guests,  vviien  they  withdrew,  alter  mianight,  ''some  commending 
the  feast,  and  others  condemning  the  bad  taste  or  extravagance 
of  their  host ;  in  the  same  manner,"  says  an  old  Spanish  writer, 
*' as  with  us."*®  Human  nature  is,  indeed,  much  the  same  all 
the  world  over. 

In  this  remarkable  picture  of  manners,  which  I  have  copied 
faithfully  from  the  records  of  earliest  date  after  the  Conquest, 
we  tind  no  resemblance  to  the  other  races  of  North  American 
Indians.  Some  resemblance  we  may  trace  to  the  general  stylo 
of  Asiaiic  pomp  and  luxury.  But,  in  Asia,  woman,  far  from  be- 
ing admitted  to  unreserved  intercourse  with  the  other  sex,  is  too 
often  jealously  immured  within  the  walls  of  the  harem.  Euro* 
pean  civilization,  which  accords  to  this  loveliest  portion  of  creation 
her  proper  rank  in  the  social  scale,  is  still  more  rem.  ved  from 
some  of  the  brutish  usages  of  the  Aztecs.  That  such  usages 
should  have  existed  with  the  degree  of  reftnenxnt  they  showed 
in  other  things  is  almiost  inconceivable.  It  can  only  be  explained 
as  the  result  of  religious  superstition  ;  superstition  which  clouds 
the  moral  perception,  and  perverts  even  the  natural  senses,  till 
man,  civilized  man,  is  reconciled  to  the  very  thing?  which  are 
most  revoking  to  humanity.  Habits  and  opinions  founded  on 
religion  must  not  be  taken  as  conclusive  evidence  of  the  actual 
refinement  of  a  people. 

The  Aziec  character  was  perfectly  original  and  uniq'ue.  It  was 
made  up  of  incongruities  aj^parently  irreconcilable,  it  blended 
into  one  the  marked  peculiarities  of  different  nations,  not  only 
of  the  same  phase  of  civilization,  but  as  far  removed  from  each 
other  as  the  extremes  of  barbarism  and  refinement.  It  may  find 
a  fitting  parallel  in  their  own  wonderful  climate,  capable  of  pro- 
ducing, on  a  few  square  leagues  of  surface,  the  boundless  variety 
of  vegetable  forms,  which  belong  to  the  frozen  regions  of  the 
North,  the  temperate  zone  of  Europe,  and  the  burning  skies  of 
Arabia  and  llindostan  ! 

tions,  as  the  Tlindoos  and  rhinese,  for  example,  surpass  the  more  polished 

Europeans  Jii  (Jisplays  of  a^ilit v  and  lcj^ci(J-;:niaiii. 

48  >'  y  ,j(.  (^y[;j  iTjanera  pasaljan  gran  rato  de  la  noclie,  y  se  dcspediau,  € 
jban  a  sns  casas,  iiiios  alabando  la  fiesta,  y  otros  niuniiurando  de  las  ticm- 
asi'as,  y  exrcso- ;  cosa  niui  ordiiiaria  en  los  que  asenicjantes  actos  se  junt.ui." 
Torf|iiemada.  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  13,  cap.  23. — Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nuev* 
Eapaiia,  lib.  9,  cap.  10-14. 

^\  ■  i.-o  n  ■   •  1 


126  AZTEC  civilization: 

One  of  the  works  repeatedly  consulted  and  referred  to  in  this  Introduction 
is  Boturini's  Idea  de  una  nueva  Historia  General  de  la  Amirica  Septentrional. 
The  singular  persecutions  sustained  by  its  author,  even  more  than  the  merit* 
of  his  book,  have  associated  his  name  inseparably  with  the  literary  history  of 
Mexico.  The  Chevalier  Lorenzo  Boturini  Benaduci  was  a  Milanese  by  birth, 
of  an  ancient  family,  and  possessed  of  much  learning.  From  Madrid,  where 
he  was  residing,  he  passed  over  to  New  Spain,  in  1735,  '-'^  some  business  of 
the  Countess  of  Santibanez,  a  lineal  descendant  of  Montezuma.  While  em- 
ployed on  this,  he  visited  the  celebrated  shrine  of  Our  Lady  of  Guadaloupe, 
and,  being  a  person  of  devout  and  enthusiastic  temper,  was  filled  with  the 
desire  of  collecting  testimony  to  establish  the  marvellous  fact  of  her  appa- 
rition. In  the  course  of  his  excursions,  made  with  this  view,  he  fell  in  with 
many  relics  of  Aztec  antiquity,  and  conceived — what  to  a  Protestant,  at 
least,  would  seem  much  more  rational — the  idea  of  gathering  together  all  the 
memorials  he  could  meet  with  of  the  primitive  civilization  of  the  land. 

In  pursuit  of  this  double  object,  he  penetrated  into  the  remotest  parts  of 
the  country,  living  much  with  the  natives,  passing  his  nights  sometimes  in 
their  huts,  sometimes  in  caves,  and  the  depths  of  the  lonely  forests.  Fre- 
quently months  would  elapse,  without  his  being  able  to  add  anything  to  his 
collection ;  for  the  Indians  had  suffered  too  much,  not  to  be  very  shy  of 
Europeans.  His  long  intercourse  with  them,  however,  give  him  ample  op- 
portunity to  learn  their  language  and  popular  traditions,  and  in  the  end,  to 
amass  a  large  stock  of  materials,  consisting  of  hieroglyphical  charts  on  cotton, 
skins,  and  the  fibre  of  the  maguey;  besides  a  considerable  body  of  Indian 
manuscripts,  written  after  the  Conquest.  To  all  these  must  be  added  the 
precious  documents  for  placing  beyond  controversy  the  miraculous  appari- 
tion of  the  Virgin.  With  this  treasure  he  returned,  after  a  pilgrimage  of 
eight  years,  to  the  capital. 

His  zeal,  in  the  meanwhile,  had  induced  him  to  procure  from  Rome  a  bull 
authorizing  the  coronation  of  the  sacred  image  at  Guadaloupe.  The  bull, 
however,  though  sanctioned  by  the  Audience  of  New  Spain,  had  never  been 
approved  by  the  Council  of  the  Indies.  In  consequence  of  this  informality, 
Boturini  was  arrested  in  the  midst  of  his  proceedings,  his  papers  were  taken 
from  him,  and,  as  he  declined  to  give  an  inventory  of  them,  he  was  thrown 
into  prison,  and  confined  in  the  same  apartment  with  two  criminals  I  Not 
long  afterward  he  was  sent  to  Spain.  He  there  presented  a  memorial  to  the 
Council  of  the  Indies,  setting  forth  his  manifold  grievances,  and  soliciting  re- 
dress. At  the  same  time,  he  drew  up  liis  "  Idea,"  above  noticed,  in  which 
he  displayed  the  catalogue  of  his  museum  in  New  Spain,  declaring,  with  af- 
fecting earnestness,  that  "  he  would  not  exchange  these  treasures  for  all  the 
gold  and  silver,  diamonds  and  pearls,  in  the  New  World." 

After  some  delay,  the  Council  gave  an  award  in  his  favor;  acquitting  him 
of  any  intentional  violation  of  the  law,  and  pronouncing  a  high  encomium  on 
his  deserts.  His  papers,  however,  were  not  restored.  But  his  Majesty  was 
graciously  pleased  to  appoint  him  Historiographer  General  of  the  Indies, 
with  a  salary  of  one  thousand  dollars  -fier  annum.  The  stipend  was  too  small 
to  allow  him  to  return  to  Mexico.  He  remained  in  Madrid,  and  completed 
there  the  first  volume  of  a  "  General  Historv  of  North  America,"  in  1749. 
Not  long  after  this  event,  and  before  the  publication  of  the  work,  he  died. 
The  same  injustice  was  continued  to  his  heirs;  and,  notv,-ithstanding  repeated 
applications  in  their  behalf,  they  were  neither  put  in  possession  of  their  un- 
fortunate kinsman's  collection,  nor  received  a  remuneration  for  it.  What 
was  worse, — as  far  as  the  public  was  concerned, — the  Collection  itself  was  de* 
posited   in   apartments  of  the  Vice-regal  palace  at  Mexico,  so  damp,  that  they 

fradually  fell  to  pieces,  and  the  few  remaining  were  still  further  diminished 
y  the  pilfering  of  the  curious.     When  Baron  "Humboldt  visited  Mexico,  no< 
one  eighth  of  this  inestimable  treasure  was  in  existence  1 


BOTUKTNI,  itf 

I  have  been  thus  particular  in  the  account  of  the  unfortunate  l]oturini,  as 
affording,  on  the  whole,  the  most  reinarkalile  examjile  of  the  serious  obsta* 
cles  and  persecutions,  which  hterary  enterprise,  directed  in  the  jiath  of  the 
national  antiquities,  has.  from  some  cause  or  other,  been  exposed  to  in  New 
Spain. 

Boturini's  manuscript  volume  was  never  printed,  and  probably  never  villi 
be,  if,  indeed,  it  is  in  existence.  This  will  scarcely  prove  a  great  detriment 
to  science,  or  to  his  own  reputation.  lie  was  a  man  or  a  zealous  tcnii^er, 
stronglv  inclined  to  the  marvellous,  with  little  of  that  acuteness  requisite  for 

f)enetratiiig  the  tangled  mazes  of  antic[uity,  or  of  the  pb.ilosophic  spirit  fitted 
or  calmlv  weighing  its  doubts  and  difticulties.  His  "  Idea  '"  affords  a  san!- 
ple  of  liis  peculiar  mind.  With  abundant  learning,  ill-assorted  and  ill-digest 
ed,  it  is  a  jumble  of  fact  and  puerile  fiction,  interesting  details,  cra/v  dreams 
and  fantastic  theories.  But  it  is  hardly  fair  to  judge  by  the  strict  rules  of 
criticism  a  work,  which,  put  together  hastily,  as  a  catalogue  of  literary  treas- 
ures, was  designed  by  the  author  rather  to  show  what  might  be  done,  than 
that  ht  coiilddo  it  himself. — It  is  rare  that  talents  for  action  and  contempla- 
tion are  united  in  the  same  individual.  Boturini  was  eminently  bualified,  by 
his  enthusiasm  and  perseverance,  for  collecting  the  materials  necessary  to  il- 
lustrate the  antiquities  of  the  country.  It  requires  a  more  highly  gifted  mind 
to  avail  itself  of  them. 


gsS  AZTEC  CIVILIZATION, 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Tmcucans. —  Their  Golden  Age. —  Accomplished  Princes.— 
Decline  of  their  Monarchy. 

The  reader  would  gather  but  an  imperfect  notion  of  the  civil- 
ization of  Anahuac,  without  some  account  of  the  Acolhuans,  or 
Tezcucans,  as  they  are  usually  called  ;  a  nation  of  the  same 
great  family  with  the  Aztecs,  whom  they  rivalled  in  power,  and 
surpassed  in  intellectual  culture  and  the  art  of  social  refinement. 
Fortunately,  we  have  ample  materials  for  this  in  the  records  left 
by  Ixtlilxochitl,  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  royal  line  of  Tezcuco, 
who  flourished  in  the  century  of  the  Conquest.  With  every  op- 
portunity for  information  he  combined  much  industry  and  talent, 
and,  if  his  narrative  bears  the  high  coloring  of  one  who  would 
revive  the  faded  glories  of  an  ancient,  but  dilapidated  house,  he 
has  been  uniformly  commended  for  his  fairness  and  integrity,  and 
has  been  followed  without  misgiving  by  such  Spanish  writers  as 
could  have  access  to  his  manuscripts.^  I  shall  confine  myself 
to  the  prominent  features  of  the  two  reigns  vlnch  may  be  said 
to  embrace  the  golden  age  of  Tezcuco  ;  without  attempting  to 
weigh  the  probability  of  the  details,  which  I  will  leave  to  be 
settled  by  the  reader,  according  to  the  measure  of  his  faith. 

The  Acolhuans  came  into  the  Valley,  as  we  have  seen,  about 
the  close  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  built  their  capital  of  Tezcuco 
on  the  eastern  borders  of  the  lake,  opposite  to  Mexico.  From 
this  point  they  gradually  spread  themselves  over  the  northern 
portion  of  Anahuac,  when  their  career  was  checked  by  an  inva- 
sion of  a  kindred  race,  the  Tepanecs,  who,  after  a  desperate 
struggle,  succeded  in  taking  their  city,  slaying  their  monarch, 
and  entirely  subjugating  his  kingdom.-  This  event  took  place 
about  1418  ;  and  the  young  prince,  Nexahualco}'Otl,  the  heir  to 
the  crown,  then  fifteen  years  old,  saw  his  father  butchered  be- 
fore his  eyes,  while  he  himself  lay  concealed  among  the  friendly 
branches  of  a  tree,  which  overshadowed  the    spot.*^     His  subse- 

1  For  a  criticism  on  this  writer,  see  the  Postscript  to  this  Chapter. 

'^  See  Chanter  First  of  this  Introduction,  p.  15. 

*   Ixtlilxochitl,     Relaciones,    MS.,    No.    9  —  Idem,     Hist.    Chich.,    MS,, 


COLDKN  ACE  OF  TEZCUCO. 


139 


quent  history  is  as  full  of  romantic  daring,  and  perilous  escapes, 
as  that  of  the  renowned  Scanderbeg,  or  of  the  "young  Che- 
valier." * 

Not  long  after  his  flight  from  the  field  of  his  father's  blood, 
the  Tezcucan  prince  sell  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  was 
borne  oil  in  iriumph  to  his  city,  and  was  thrown  into  a  dungeon. 
He  ettected  his  esca!)c,  however,  through  the  connivance  of  the 
governor  of  liie  fortre>:>,  an  old  servant  of 'his  family,  who  took 
the  place  of  the  royal  fugitive,  and  paid  for  his  loyaltv  with  his 
life.  He  was  at  length  permitted,  through  the  intercession  of 
the  reigning  familv  in  Mexico,  wiiich  was  aiiicd  co  him,  to  retire 
to  "hat  capi'-'il,  and  Subse(|uenily  to  his  own,  wiiere  he  found  a 
shcl;er  in  nis  ancestral  palace.  Here  he  remuined  unmolested 
for  eight  vears,  pursuing  his  studies  under  an  old  preceptor,  w-ho 
had  had  me  care  of  his  early  youth,  and  who  instructed  him  in 
tlie  various  duues  betiuinghis  princely  station.^ 

At  tlie  end  of  tiiis  oeri  )d  the  Tepanec  usurper  died,  bequeath- 
ing ills  em:  ire  to  liis  son,  Miixtla,  a  man  of  tierce  and  suspicious 
temijer.  Nczahualcoyoil  hastened  to  pay  his  obeisance  to  him, 
on  his  accession.  But  the  tyrant  refused  to  receive  the  little 
present  of  flowers  which  he  laid  at  his  feet,  and  turned  his  back 
on  him  in  presence  of  his  chieftains.  One  of  his  attendants, 
friendly  to  the  young  prince,  admonished  him  to  provide  for  his 
own  safety,  b\  widiclrawing,  as  speedilv  as  possible,  from  the 
palace,  where  his  life  was  in  danger.  He  lost  no  time,  conse- 
quently, in  retreaiing  from  the  inhospitable  court,  and  returned 
to  'I'ezcuc ).  Max'la,  however,  was  bent  on  iris  destruction. 
He  saw  v/irh  ie:dons  eye  the  opening  talents  and  popular  man- 
ners of  his  rivrd,  and  the  fa\'or  he  was  daily  winning  from  his 
anc:t;nt  suijjects.'' 

ile  acco'xlingly  laid  a  plan  for  makin.g  wav  with  him  at  an 
eveniiig  entertainment.  It  was  defeated  by  the  vigilance  of  the 
prince's  tutor,  who  contrived  to  mislead  the  assassiti^.  and  to 
substitute  another  victim  in  the  jilace  of  his  pupil.''  'flic 
baffled  tyrant  now  threw  off  ail  disguise,  and  sent  a  strong  partv 

■*  The  adventures  of  the  lonncr  iiero  ,;i-e  told  svith  his  nsiia!  spirit  by  Sis- 
mondi  -' It'-nublirjucs  Italiemie--,  ■,  i;:;]).  "]'■)).  It  i-  h:irdl\  n'lres'^arv,  for  the 
iatt'.-r,  ;,o  r<;i'jrtiie  Kn^ii.-.h  ruadi  r  ;(i  ( 'iiamlxTs".;  "  !li>t.>!-\  Mt'tho  ivehellion  of 
174:,"  ;  a  W'irk  wtiicii  provs  ho-.v  li.ih  >  tiic  par;iti(jn  in  Imniaii  life,  which 
div'  !':  :  r'):ija;;rc  frnni  rra:;!'.'. 

'•'  Ixiiilx'i' liitl,   itclacioncs,  MS..  V'  .   10. 

^  Idcn,  itidacioiics,  MS.,  Xo.   10.  — lii-t.  ('!iirh.,  MS.,  cap.  20-24. 

'i'lcm,  llist.  <diirii..  MS..  (■.!'■.  2;.  'rill' ("ontrivance  wa'i  effected  by 
sneaiis  (A  an  i  xiiaDidinat  •.■  p'■l•^l)nal  I'-ciiihlan' e  uf  (he  parties;  a  frititfu) 
•Oiir'.e  of  comic, — as  everv  reader  of  the  chania  knows, — thou;.;li  rarely  of 
tragic  interest. 


•so 


AZTEC  CIVILIZATION. 


of  soldiers  to  Tezcuco.  with  orders  to  enter  the  place,  seize  the 
person  of  Nezahualcoyotl,  and  slay  him  on  the  spot.  The 
prince,  who  became  acquainted  with  the  plot  through  the  watch- 
fulness of  his  preceptor,  instead  of  flying,  as  he  was  counselled, 
resolved  to  await  his  enemy.  They  found  him  playing  at  ball, 
when  they  arrived,  in  the  court  of  his  palace.  He  received  them 
courteously,  and  invited  them  in,  to  take  some  refreshments  after 
their  journey.  While  they  were  occupied  in  this  way,  he  passed 
into  an  adjoining  saloon,  which  excited  no  suspicion,  as  he  was 
still  visible  through  the  open  doors  by  which  the  apartments  com- 
municated with  each  other,  A  burning  censer  stood  in  the  pas- 
sage, and,  as  it  was  fed  by  the  attendants,  threw  up  such  clouds 
of  incense  as  obscured  his  movements  from  the  soldiers.  Under 
this  friendly  veil  he  succeeded  in  making  his  escape  by  a  secret 
passage,  which  communicated  with  a  large  earthen  pipe  formerly 
used  to  bring  water  to  the  palace.^  Here  he  remained  till 
night-fall,  when,  taking  advantage  of  the  obscurity,  he  found  his 
way  into  the  suburbs,  and  sought  a  shelter  in  the  cottage  of  one 
of  his  father's  vassals. 

The  Tepanec  monarch,  enraged  at  this  repeated  disappoint- 
ment, ordered  instant  pursuit.  A  price  was  set  on  the  head  of 
the  royal  fugitive.  Whoever  should  take  him,  dead  or  alive, 
was  promised,  hov.'ever  humble  his  degree,  the  hand  of  a  noble 
lady,  and  an  ample  domain  along  with  it.  Troops  of  armed 
men  were  ordered  to  scour  the  country  in  every  direction.  In 
the  course  of  the  search,  the  cottage,  in  which  the  prince  had 
taken  refuge,  was  entered.  But  he  fortunately  escaped  detection 
by  being  hid  under  a  heap  of  maguey  fibres  used  for  manufactur- 
ing cloth.  x\s  this  was  no  longer  a  proper  place  of  concealment, 
he  sought  a  retreat  in  the  mountainous  and  woody  district  lying 
between  the  borders  of  his  own  state  and  Tlascala.^ 

Here  he  led  a  wretched,  wandering  life,  exposed  to  all  the 
inclemencies  of  the  weather,  hiding  himself  in  deep  thickets  and 
caverns,  and  stealing  out,  at  night,  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  ap- 
petite ;  while  he  was  kept  in  constant  alarm  by  the  activity  of 
his  pursuers,  always  hovering  on  his  track.  On  one  occasion 
he  sought  refuge  from  them  among  a  small  party  of  soldiers, 
who  proved  friendlv  to  him,  and  concealed  him  in  a  large  drum 

^  It  was  customary,  on  entering  the  presence  of  a  great  lord,  to  throw 
aromaiics  into  the  censei'.  "'  Heclio  en  el  brasero  incienso,  y  copal,  que  era 
uso  y  costuml>re  donde  cstal:>an  los  Reves  y  Senores,  cada  vez  que  los  criados 
entraban  con  mucha  reverencia  y  acamiento  echaban  sahumerioen  el  brasero  ; 
y  asi  con  este  jjertunie  st-  obscurecia  algo  la  sala. ''  Ixtlilxochitl,  Relacioiies, 
MS.,  No.  II. 

s  Idem,  Hist.  Chich..  MS.,  cap.  20 — Relaciones,  MS.,  No.  11. — Veytia, 
Hist.    Antig.,  lib  2.  cap.  47. 


GOLD  EX  AGE  OF  TEZCUCO. 


131 


around  which  they  were  dancing.  At  another  time,  he  was  just 
able  to  turn  the  crest  of  a  hill,  as  his  enemies  were  climbing  it  or? 
the  other  side,  when  he  fell  in  with  a  girl  who  was  reaping  chidn— 
a  Mexican  plant,  the  seed  of  which  was  much  used  in  the  drinks 
of  the  country.  He  persuaded  her  to  cover  him  up  with  the 
stalks  she  had  been  cutting.  When  his  pursuers  came  up,  and 
inquired  if  she  had  seen  tiie  fugitive,  the  girl  coolly  answered 
that  she  had,  and  pointed  out  a  path  as  the  one  he  had  taken. 
Notwithstanding  the  high  rewards  offered,  Nezahualcoyotl  seems 
to  have  incurred  no  danger  from  treachery,  such  was  the  general 
attachment  felt  to  himself  and  his  house.  "  Would  you  not 
deliver  up  the  prince,  if  he  came  in  your  way  ?  "  he  inquired  of 
a  young  peasant  who  was  unacquainted  with  his  person.  ''  Not  I," 
replied  the  other.  "  W^hat,  not  for  a  fair  lady's  hand,  and  a 
rich  dowry  beside  ?"  rejoined  the  prince.  At  which  the  other 
only  shook  his  head  and  laughed.'''^  On  more  than  one  occasion, 
his  faithful  people  submitted  to  torture,  and  even  to  lose  their 
lives,  rather  than  disclose  the  place  of  his  retreat." 

However  gratifying  such  proofs  of  loyalty  might  be  to  his  feel- 
ings, the  situation  of  the  prince  in  these  mountain  solitudes  became 
every  day  more  distressing.  It  gave  a  still  keener  edge  to  his 
own  sufferings  to  witness  those  of  the  faithful  followers  who 
chose  to  accompany  him  in  his  wanderings.  "  Leave  me," 
he  would  say  to  them,  "  to  my  fate  !  Why  should  you  throw 
away  your  own  lives  for  one  whom  fortune  is  never  weary 
of  persecuting  .'' "  Most  of  the  great  Tezcucan  chiefs  had 
consulted  their  interests  by  a  timely  adhesion  to  the  usurper. 
But  some  still  clung  to  their  prince,  preferring  proscription,  and 
death  itself,  rather  than  desert  him  in  his  extremity. ^■^ 

In  the  meantime,  his  friends  at  a  distance  were  active  in 
measures  for  his  relief.  The  oppressions  of  Maxila,  and  his 
growing  empire,  had  caused  general  alarm  in  the  surrounding 
states,  who  recalled  the  mild  rule  of  the  Tezcucan  princes.  A 
coalition  was  formed,  a  plan  of  operations  concerted,  and,  on 
the  day  appointed  for  a  general  rising,  Nezahualcoyotl  found 
himself  at  the  head  of  a  force  sufhciently  strong  to  face  his 
Tepanec  ad\ersaries.     An  engagement  came   on,   in  which   the 

' '  ■  Nezuiiualcoioizin  le  dixo,  que  si  vicse  a  f|uicn  l)uscal)an,  si  lo  iria 
it  (lenunciar  ?  responodi,  ciueno;  tornundDle  a  rcplicar  diciendole,  qii<* 
haria  mui  nial  en  perder  una  miigcr  liermo.sa  y  lo  dcnias,  (ine  el  rey  Maxtlx 
prometia,  el  manccbo  se  rio  de  lodo,  no  liacitndo  caso  ni  do  lo  uno,  ni  dc  lo 
Otro."     Ixtiil-ochiil.  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  27. 

11  Ibid.,  MS.,  cap.  26,  27. —  Relacioaes.  MS.,  No.  11. — Veylia,  Hist.  Antif^ 
lib.  a,  cap.  47,  48. 

12  Ixtlilxochitl,  MSS.,  ubi  supra. — Veytia,  ubi  supra. 


132 


AZ TEC  CHRONOLOG Y. 


latter  were  totally  discomfited  ;  and  the  victorious  prince,  rtr 
ceiving  everywhere  on  his  route  the  homage  of  his  joyful  subjects, 
entered  his  capital,  not  like  a  proscribed  outcast,  but  as  the 
rightful  heir,  and  saw  himself  once  more  enthroned  in  the  halls 
of  his  fathers. 

Soon  after,  he  united  his  forces  with  the  Mexicans,  long  dis- 
gusted with  the  arbitrary  conduct  of  Maxtla.  The  allied  powers, 
after  a  series  of  bloody  engagements  with  the  usurper,  routed 
him  under  the  walls  of  his  own  capital.  He  fled  to  the  baths, 
whence  he  was  dragged  out,  and  sacrificed  with  the  usual  cruel 
ceremonies  of  the  Aztecs  ;  the  royal  city  of  Azcapozalco  was 
razed  to  the  ground,  and  the  wasted  territory  was  henceforth  re- 
served as  the  great  slave-market  for  the  nations  of  Anahuac/^ 

These  events  were  succeeded  by  the  remarkable  league 
among  the  three  powers  of  Tezcuco,  Mexico,  and  Tlacopan,  of 
which  some  account  has  been  given  in  a  previous  chapter.-"  His- 
torians are  not  agreed  as  to  the  precise  terms  of  it ;  the  writers 
of  the  two  former  nations,  each,  insisting  on  the  paramount 
authority  of  his  own  in  the  coalition.  All  agree  in  the  subordi- 
nate position  of  Tlacopan,  a  state,  like  the  others,  bordering  on 
the  lake.  It  is  certain,  that  in  their  subsequent  operations, 
whether  of  peace  or  war,  the  three  states  shared  in  each  other's 
councils,  embarked  in  each  other's  enterprises,  and  moved  in 
perfect  concert  together,  till  just  before  the  coming  of  the  Span- 
iards. 

The  first  measure  of  Nezahualcoyotl,  on  returning  to  his 
dominions,  was  a  general  amnesty.  It  was  his  maxim,  "  that  a 
monarch  might  punish,  but  revenge  was  unworthy  of  him.*'  ^  In 
the  present  instance,  he  was  averse  even  to  punish,  not  only 
freely  pardoned  his  rebel  nobles,  but  conferred  on  some,  who 
had  most  deeply  offended,  posts  of  honor  and  confidence. 
Such  conduct  was  doubtless  politic,  especially  as  their  aliena- 
tion was  owang,  probably,  much  more  to  fear  of  the  usurper, 
than  to  any  disaffection  towards  himself.  But  there  are  some 
acts  of  policy  which  a  magnanimous  spirit  only  can  execute. 

The  restored  monarch  next  set  about  repairing  the  damages 
sustained  under  the  late  misrule,  and  reviving,  or  rather  re- 
modelling, the  various  departments  of  government.  He  framed 
a  concise,  but  comprehensive,  code  of  laws,  so  well  suited,  it 
was  thought,  to  the  exigencies  of  the  times,  that  it  was  adopted 

^  Ixtlilxochit],  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  28-31.— Relaciones,  MS.,  No.  if. 
— Veytia,  Hist    Antig.,  lib.  2,  cap.  51-54. 

"  See  page  iS  of  this  volume. 

^  "  Que  venjanza  no  es  justo  la  procuren  k)s  Reyes,  «no  caatigar  al  que 
lo  mereciere."— MS.  de  Ixtlilxochitl. 


GOLDEN-  AGE  OF  TEZCUCO. 


133 


ts  their  own  by  the  two  other  members  of  the  triple  alliance. 
It  was  written  in  blood,  and  entitled  the  author  to  be  called  the 
Draco,  rather  than  '•  the  Solon  of  Anahuac,"  as  he  is  fondly 
styled  by  his  admirers.^  Humanity  is  one  of  the  best  fruits  of 
refinement.  It  is  only  with  increasing  civilization,  that  the  leg- 
islator studies  to  economize  human  suffering,  even  for  the 
guilty  ;  to  devise  penalties,  not  so  much  by  way  of  punishment 
for  the  past,  as  of  reformation  for  the  future." 

He  divided  the  burden  of  government  among  a  number  of  de- 
partments, as  the  council  of  war,  the  council  of  finance,  the  coun- 
cil of  justice.  This  last  was  a  court  of  supreme  authority,  both 
in  civil  and  criminal  matters,  receiving  appeals  from  the  lower 
tribunals  of  the  provinces,  which  were  obliged  to  make  a  full 
report,  every  four  months,  or  eighty  days,  of  their  own  proceed- 
ings to  this  higher  judicature.  In  all  these  bodies,  a  certain 
number  of  citizens  were  allowed  to  have  seats  with  the  nobles 
and  professional  dignitaries.  There  was,  however,  another  body, 
a  council  of  state,  for  aiding  the  l<ing  in  the  despatch  of  busi- 
ness, and  advising  him  in  matters  of  importance,  which  was 
drawn  altogether  from  the  highest  order  of  chiefs.  It  consisted 
of  fourteen,  members  ;  and  they  had  seats  provided  for  them  at 
the  royal  table. ^'^ 

Lastly,  there  was  an  extraordinarv  tribunal,  called  the  council 
of  music,  but  which,  differing  from  the  import  of  its  name,  was 
devoted  to  the  encouragement  of  science  and  art.  Works  on 
aslronomy,  chronology,  history,  or  any  other  science,  were  re- 
quired to  be  submitted  to  its  judgment,  before  they  could  be 
made  public.  This  censorial  power  was  of  some  moment,  at 
least  with  regard  to  the  historical  department,  where  the  wilful 
perversion  of  truth  was  made  a  capital  offence  by  the  bloody 
code  of  Nezahualcoyotl.  Yet  a  Tezcucan  author  must  have  been 
a  bungler,  who  could  not  elude  a  conviction  under  the  cloudy 
veil  of  hieroglyphics.     This  bodv,  which  was  drawn    from   the 

^**  See  CLivigero,  Stor.  del  Messico,  torn.  T.  p.  247. 

Nezahualcoyotl's  code  consisted  of  eighty  laws,  of  which  thirty-four  only 
have  come  down  to  us,  according  to  V^eytia.  (Hist.  Antig.,  toin.  III.  p. 
224,  nota.)  Ixtlilxochitl  enumerates  several  of  them.  Hist.  Chich.,  MS., 
cap.  3S,  and  Relacic^nes,  MS.,  Ordenanzas. 

1'  Nowhere  are  these  principles  kept  more  steadily  in  view  than  in  the 
▼arious  writings  of  our  adojHed  countrvmaii.  Dr.  Lieher,  having  more  or  less 
to  do  with  the  theory  of  legislation.  Such  works  could  not  have  been  pro- 
duced before  the  nineteenth  centiirw 

'Mxtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  can .  36.— Vevtia,  Hist.  Antig.,  lib.  3, 
cap.  7. 

According  to  Ziirita,  the  principal  judges,  at  their  general  meetings  every 
four  months,  constituted  also  a  suri  nf  parliament  or  cortes,  for  advising  tb» 
king  on  matters  of  state.      See  his  K  ipport,  p.  106;  also  .\nte.  u-    io- 


»34 


AZ  TEC  CIVILIZA  TION. 


best  instructed  persons  in  tlie  kingdom,  with  little  regard  to 
rank,  had  supervisiou  of  all  the  productions  of  art,  and  of  the 
nicer  fabrics,  ll  decided  on  the  qualifications  of  the  professors 
in  the  various  branches  of  science,  on  the  fidelity  of  their  in- 
structions to  their  pupils,  the  deiiciency  of  which  was  severely 
punished,  and  it  instituted  examinations  of  these  latter.  In 
short,  it  was  a  general  board  of  education  for  the  couniry.  On 
stated  days,  historical  compositions,  and  poems  treating  of 
moral  or  traditional  topics,  were  recited  before  it  by  their 
authors.  Seats  were  provided  for  the  three  crowned  heads  of 
the  empire,  who  deliberated  with  the  other  members  on  the  re- 
spective merits  of  the  pieces,  and  distributed  prizes  of  value  to 
the  successful  competitors.^^ 

Such  are  the  marvellous  accounts  transmitted  to  us  of  this  in- 
stitution ;  an  institution  certainly  not  to  have  been  expected 
among  the  Aborigines  of  America.  It  is  calculated  to  give  us  a 
higher  idea  of  the  refinement  of  the  people,  than  even  the  noble 
architectural  remains,  which  still  cover  some  parts  of  the  conti- 
nent. Architecture  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  a  sensual  gratifica- 
tion. It  addresses  itself  to  the  eye,  and  affords  the  best  scope 
for  the  parade  of  barbaric  pomp  and  splendor.  It  is  the  form 
in  whicii  the  revenues  of  a  semi-civilized  people  are  most  likely 
to  be  lavished.  The  most  gaudy  and  ostentatious  specimens  of 
it,  and  sometimes  the  most  stupendous,  have  been  reared  by 
such  hands.  It  is  one  of  the  first  steps  in  the  great  march  of 
civilization.  But  the  institution  in  question  was  evidence  of 
still  higher  refinement.  It  was  a  literary  luxury  ;  and  argued 
the  existence  of  a  taste  in  the  nation,  which  relied  for  its  grati- 
fication on  pleasures  of  a  purely  intellectual  character. 

The  influence  of  this  academy  must  have  been  most  propi- 
tious to  the  capital,  which  became  the  nursery,  not  only  of  such 
sciences  as  could  be  compassed  by  the  scholarship  of  the  period, 
but  of  various  useful  and  ornamental  arts.  Its  historians, 
orators,  and  poets  were  celebrated  throughout  the  country.'"  Its 

'^  Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  36 — Clavigero,  Stor.  del  Messico, 
torn.  II.  p.  137. — Veytia,  Hist.  Antig.,  lib.  3,  cap.  7. 

"Concurrian  a  cste  consejo  las  tres  cabezas  del  impcrio,  en  ciertos  dias,  i 
oir  cantar  las  poesias  historicas  antiguas  y  niodernas,  para  instruise  de  toda 
su  historia,  y  tambien  cuando  habia  algun  nuevo  iiivento  en  cualquiera  facul- 
tad,  para  e.xamiuarlo,  aprobarlo,  6  reprobarlo.  Delante  de  las  sillas  de  los 
rcyts  haljia  una  gran  mesu  cargada  de  joyas  de  oro  y  plata,  pedreria,  plumas, 
y  otrns  cos:is  estimables,  y  en  los  rincones  de  la  sala  nnichas  de  manta.s  de 
todas  calidades,  para  premios  de  las  habilidades  y  estimulo  de  los  profesores, 
las  cuales  alh.'ijas  repartian  I'ls  reyes.  en  los  dias  que  concurrian,  a  los  que  s< 
aventajaban  en  el  ejercicio  de  sus  facultades. "     Ibid. 

*' Veytia,  Hist.  Antig.,  lib.  3,  cap.  7. — Clavigero,  Stor.  del  Messico,  torn. 
I.  p.  247. 


GOLDEN  AGE  OF  TEZCUCO.  j^^ 

archives,  for  which  accommodations  were  provided  in  the  royal 
palace,  were  stored  with  the  records  of  primitive  ages.^^  Its 
idiom,  more  polished  than  the  Mexican,  was,  indeed,  the  purest 
of  all  the  Nahuatlac  dialects  ;  and  continued,  long  after  the  Con- 
quest, to  be  that  in  which  the  best  productions  of  the  native 
races  were  composed.  Tezcuco  claimed  the  glory  of  being  the 
Athens  of  the  Western  World.'^ 

Among  the  most  illustrious  of  her  bards  was  tlie  emperor 
himself, — for  the  Tezcucan  writers  claim  this  title  for  their  chief, 
as  head  of  the  imperial  alliance.  He,  doubtless,  appeared  as  a 
competitor  before  that  very  academy  where  he  so  often  sat  as  a 
critic.  Many  of  his  odes  descended  to  a  late  generation,  and 
are  still  preserved,  perhaps,  in  some  of  the  dusty  repositories  of 
Mexico  or  Spain.'^  The  historian,  Ixtlilxochitl,  has  left  a  trans- 
lation, in  Castilian,  of  one  of  the  poems  of  his  royal  ancestor. 
It  is  not  easy  to  render  his  version  into  corresiDonding  English 
rhyme,  without  the  perfume  of  the  original  escaping  in  this 
double  filtration.^  They  remind  one  of  the  rich  breathings  of 
Spanish-Arab  poetry,  in  which  an  ardent  imagination  is  tempered 
by  a  not  unpleasing  and  moral  melancholy.''^^  But,  though  suffi- 
ciently florid  in  diction,  they  are  generally  free  from  the  mere- 
tricious ornaments  and  hyperbole  with  which  the  minstrelsy  of 

The  latter  author  enumerates  four  historians,  some  of  much  repute,  of  the 
royal  house  of  Tezcuco,  descendants  of  the  great  Nezahualcoyotl.  See  his 
Account  of  writers,  torn.  I.  pp.  6-21. 

■•^'  "En  la  ciudadde  Tezcuco  cstaban  los  Archivos  Reales  de  todas  las  cosas 
referidas,  por  haver  sido  la  Metropoli  de  todas  las  ciencias,  usos,  y  buenas 
costumbres.  porque  los  Reyes  que  fueron  de  ella  se  prcciaron  de  esto. "  (Ix- 
tlilxochitl, Hist.  Chich.,  IVIS.,  Prologo.)  It  was  from  the  poor  wreck  of 
these  documents,  once  so  carefully  preserved  by  his  ancestors,  that  the 
historian  gleaned  the  materials,  as  he  informs  us,  for  his  own  works. 

2^  "'Aunque  es  tenida  la  lengua  Mejicana  por  materna,  y  la  Tezcucana  por 
mas  cortesana  y  i)ulida."  (Camargo,  Ilist.  de  Tlascala,  MS.)  "Tezcuco," 
says  Boturini,  '"donde  los  Senores  de  la  Tierra  embiaban  a  sus  hijos  para 
2.Y>'^t\\z'ndt^r  lo  ?nus  pulido  (if  ill  Ldiigua  N'aluiatl,  la  Poesi'a,  Filosofia  Moral, 
la  Theologia  Oentilica,  la  Astronomi'a,  Medicina,  y  la  liistoria."  Idea, 
p.  142. 

^  '■  Conipuso  LX.  cantares,"  says  the  author  last  cpioted,  "  (jue  quizas 
taml>ien  ha\Tan  pcrecido  en  las  manos  incendiarias  dc  los  ignorantes."  (Idea, 
p.  79.)  Boturini  had  translations  of  two  of  these  in  his  nuiscuni,  (('atalogo. 
p.  8.)  and  another  has  since  come  to  light. 

'■*♦  Difficult  as  the  task  may  be.  it  has  been  executed  by  the  hand  of  a  fair 
friend,  who  while  she  has  adhered  to  the  (.'astilian  with  singular  lideiity,  has 
shown  a  grace  and  flexibility  in  her  poetical  movements,  which  the  C!astilian 
ver--ion,  and  j)robablv  llie  Mexican  original,  cainiot  boast.  See  both  transla- 
tions in  Appendix,    Part  2,  A'o.  2. 

'^^  Numerous  sjjccimims  of  this  may  bs  found  in  Gondii's  "  Dominacion  dc 
los  Ar&,bcs  en  Kspaiia."  None  of  them  are  superior  to  the  plaintive  strains 
of  the  royal  Abderahman  on  the  solitary  paTm-tree,  which  reminded  him  o£ 
the  pleasant  land  of  hi»  birth.     See  Parle  2,  cap.  9. 


j,^  AZTEC  CiriLIZA'J'/o:v. 

the  East  is  iist'.ally  tainted.  They  turn  on  the  vanities  and  mu- 
tability of  ]■'•  "ian  life  ;  a  topic  very  natural  for  a  monarch  who 
had  himself  experienced  the  strangest  mutations  of  fortune. 
There  is  mingled  in  the  lament  of  the  Tezcucan  bard,  however, 
an  Epicurean  philosophy,  which  seeks  relief  from  the  fears  of 
the  future  in  the  joys  of  the  present.  ''  Banish  care,"  he  says  , 
if  there  are  bounds  to  pleasure,  the  saddest  life  must  also  have 
an  end.  Then  weave  the  chapler  of  flowers,  and  sing  ihy  songs 
in  praise  of  the  all-powerful  God  :  for  the  glorv  of  this  world 
soon  fadeth  away.  Rejoice  in  the  green  freshness  of  thy 
spring  :  for  the  day  will  come  when  thou  shait  sigh  for  these 
joys  in  vain;  when  the  sceptre  shall  pass  from  thy  hands,  tiiy 
servants  shall  wander  desolate  in  thy  courts,  thy  sons,  and  the 
sons  of  thy  nobles,  shall  drink  the  dregs  of  distress,  and  all  the 
pomp  of  thy  victories  and  triumphs  shall  li\'e  only  in  their 
recollection.  Yet  the  remembrance  of  the  just  shall  not  pass 
away  from  the  nations,  and  the  good  thou  hast  done  shall  ever 
be  held  in  honor.  The  goods  of  this  life,  its  glories  and  its 
riches,  are  but  lent  to  us,  its  substance  is  but  an  illusory  shadow 
and  the  things  of  to-day  shall  change  on  the  coming  of  the  mor- 
row. Then  gather  the  fairest  flowers  from  thy  gardens,  to  bind 
round  thy  brow,  and  seize  the  jovs  of  the  present,  ere  they 
perish."  26 

36  "  lo  tocare  cantando 

E!  miisico  iiittrumento  sonoroso 

Tuude  flores  gcizando 

Danza,  y  festcja  a  Dios  que  es  poderoso: — 

O  gozemos  tie  e.-ta  gioria, 

Porqiie  la  humaiia  vida  es  transitoria." 

MS.    DE  IXTULXOCHITL. 

The  sentiment,  which    is   common  enough,  is  expressed  with   uncommon 

beauty  by  the  English  poet,  Herrick: 

"  CSather  the  rosebud  while  you  may, 
OJd  Time  is  still  a  flying  ; 
The  fairest  flower  that  biooms  to-day, 

To-ii!crrow  iiiay  be  dying." 

And  with  still  greater  beauty,  perhaps  by  Racine  ; 

■'  Rions,  chantonas,  dit  cette  troupe  impie  ; 
iJe  fleurs  en  lieurs,  dc  plaisirs  en  plaisirs, 
Promenoiis  nos  desirs. 
Sur  I'avenir  insense  qui  se  fie. 
De  nos  ans  passasers  le  nombre  est  incertaiu. 
Hatons-nous  aujourd'hui  de  jouir  de  la  vie; 
Qui  Edit  si  nous  serons  demain  ?  " 

Athalib.  Acte  2. 

It  is  interesting  to  see  under  what  different  forms  the  same  sentiment,  is 
developed  by  flifierenl  races,  and  in  different  languages.  It  is  an  J'])ic..rca  ; 
sentiment,  indeed,  but  its  universality  proves  its  truth  to  nature. 


^JOLDEK  AGE  OF  TEZCUCO. 


'37 


But  the  hours  of  the  Tezcucan  monarch  were  not  all  passed  in 
idle  dalliance  with  the  Muse,  nor  in  the  sober  contemplations  of 
philosophy,  as  at  a  later  period.  In'  tiie  fresh)iess  of  youth  aad 
early  manhood  he  led  the  allied  armies  in  their  annual  expedi- 
tions, which  were  certain  to  result  in  a  wider  extent  of  territory 
to  the  empire.'^'  In  the  intervals  of  peace  he  fostered  those 
productive  arts  which  are  the  surest  sources  of  public  prosperity. 
He  encouraged  agriculture  above  ail  ;  and  there  was  scarcely  a 
spot  so  rude,  or  a  steep  so  inaccessible,  as  nni  to  confess  the 
power  of  cultivation.  The  land  was  covered  with  a  busy  popula- 
tion, and  towns  and  cities  sprung  up  in  places  since  deserted, 
or  dwindled  into  miserable  villages.''" 

From  resources  thus  enlarged  by  conquest  and  domestic  in- 
dustry, the  monarch  drew  the  means  for  the  large  consumption 
of  his  own  numerous  household,®  and  forlhe  costly  works  which 
he  executed  for  the  convenience  and  embellishment  of  the  capi- 
tal. He  filled  it  with  stately  edifices  for  his  nobles,  whose 
constant  attendance  he  was  anxious  to  secure  at  his  court.*'  He 
erected  a  magnificent  pile  of  buildings  which  might  serve  both 
for  a  royal  reisdence  and  for  the  public  offices.       It  extended, 

'^''  Some  of  the  provinces  and  places  thus  conquered  were  held  by  the  allied 
powers  in  common  ;  'I'lacopan,  however,  only  receiving  one  fifth  of  the 
tribute.     It   was    more  usual  to    annex  the  vanquished  territory  to  that   one 

of  the  two  great  .state's,  to  which  it  lay  nearest.  Sec  Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist. 
Chicii.,  MS.,  can.  3S. — Zurita  Rajiport,  p.  il. 

■■^■'  Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  41.  The  same  writer,  in  another 
wuik,  calls  the  population  of  Tezcuco,  at  this  peritjd,  double  of  what  it  was 
at  liie  Conquest;  founding  his  estimate  on  the  royal  registers,  and  on  the 
numerous  remains  of  edifices  still  \isible  in  bis  clay,  in  places  now  de- 
po;;'i::i;efi.  ''  I'arece  en  las  historias  que  en  este  ticmpo.  antes  que  se  des- 
tnr.'j-c-ti,  liav'a  dob'.aflo  mas  gente  de  la  que  hallo  al  ticmpo  que  vino  Cortes, 
y  los  demas  Espanoies;  porque  yo  hallo  en  los  padroncs  reales,  que  el  menor 
pueblo  tenia  1 100  vecinos,  y  de  alii  ]jara  arriba,  y  ab.ora  no  tienen  200  veciiios, 

y  aun  en  algunas  partes   de  todo  punto  se   han   acabado Como   se 

hecha  de  ver  en  las  ruinas,  hasta  los  mas  altos  monies  y  sierras  tenian  sus 
senicntcras,  y  casas  principales  para  vivir  y  morar."  Relacioncs,  MS., 
No.  9. 

■-■•'  T'lrfiuemaria  has  extracted  the  particulars  of  tlie  yearly  expeiu'liture  of 
the  oalace  from  the  roval  account  l)i^t)k,  which  c;:nie  into  the  historian's 
possession.  The  folbjwing  are  some  of  the  items,  nanicb,-:  4.900,300 
fan'-gas  of  maize  :  (the  fanep;a  is  cc)ual  to  about  ouc  hundred  pounds;) 
2.744,000  fanegas  of  cacao;  Sooo  turkeys;  1300  liaskcts  of  salt:  besides  an 
in'  rrMiihle  rpiantitv  of  game  of  every  kind,  veget.-ibh's,  condiments,  &c. 
(M-,:ar,.h.  Ind.,  lib.  2,  cap.  53.)  Sec,  also,  Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS., 
cap.  3s. 

■^   'I  11'  in  V, 'Tf  tRor"  tiian  four  hundred  of  these  lorcllv  residences. 
"A-i   i;i;-i?ii   n 'z  o  (  dif;' :;r  miuhcs  casas  y  palacios  para  los  senores  y  caval- 
)er'i»,  que  .-'.-i-tiaii  en  ^m   c.-irtc,  cicbi  imo  conf(jrnie  i  la  calidad  v  uieritos  de 
Bu  i)ersi)na,  las  fpialcs   ll'i'i'iron  k  sir  mas  de  fjuatrocientas  casas  de  sefiores  v 
cavalleros  de  soiar  cui.oolo."     Ibid.,  cap.  38, 


,38  AZTEC  CIVILTZATION. 

from  east  to  west,  twelve  hundred  and  thirty-four  yards,  and 
from  north  to  south,  nine  hundred  and  seventy-eight.  It  was 
encompassed  by  a  wall  of  unburnt  bricks  and  cement,  six  feet 
wide  and  nine  high,  for  one  half  of  the  circumference,  and 
fifteen  feet  high  for  the  other  half.  Within  this  inclosure  were 
two  courts.  The  outer  one  was  used  as  the  great  market-place 
of  the  city;  and  continued  to  be  so  until  long  after  the  Conquest, 
— if,  indeed,  it  is  not  now.  The  interior  court  was  surrounded 
by  the  council-chambers  and  hails  of  justice.  There  were  also 
accommodations  there  for  the  foreign  ambassadors  ;  and  a 
spacious  saloon,  with  apartments  opening  into  it,  for  men  of 
science  and  poets,  who  pursued  their  studies  in  this  retreat,  or 
met  together  to  hold  converse  under  its  marble  porticos.  In 
this  quarter,  also,  were  kept  the  public  archives  ;  which  fared 
better  under  the  Indian  dynasty,  than  they  have  since  under 
their  European  successors.^^ 

Adjoining  this  court  were  the  apartments  of  the  king,  includ- 
ing those  for  the  royal  harem,  as  liberally  supplied  with  beauties 
as  that  of  an  Eastern  sultan.  Their  walls  were  incrusted  with 
alabasters,  and  richly  tinted  stucco,  or  hung  with  gorgeous  tapes- 
tries of  variegated  feather-work.  They  led  through  long  arcades, 
and  through  intricate  labyrinths  of  shrubbery,  into  gardens, 
where  baths  and  sparkling  fountains  were  overshadowed  by  tall 
groves  of  cedar  and  cypress.  The  basins  of  water  were  well 
stocked  with  fish  of  various  kinds,  and  the  aviaries  with  birds 
glowing  in  all  the  gaudy  plumage  of  the  tropics.  Many  birds 
and  animals,  which  could  not  be  obtained  alive,  were  represent- 
ed in  gold  and  silver  so  skilfully  as  to  have  furnished  the  great 
naturalist,  Hernandez,  with  models  for  his  work.^ 

^'  Ibid.,  cap.  36.  "Esta  plaza  cercada  de  portales,  y  tenia  asi  mismo  por 
la  parte  del  poniente  otra  sala  grande,  y  muchos  quartos  a  la  redonda,  que  era 
la  universidad,  en  donde  asistian  todos  los  poetas,  historicos,  y  philosophos 
del  reyno,  divididos  en  sus  claves,  y  academias,  conforme  era  la  facultad  de  cada 
uno,  y  asi  mismo  estaban  aqui  los  archives  reales." 

^  This  celebrated  naturalist  was  sent  by  Philip  II.  to  New  Spain,  and  he 
employed  several  years  in  compiling  a  voluminous  w^ork  on  its  various  nat- 
ural productions,  with  drawings  illustrating  them.  Although  the  government 
is  said  to  have  expended  sixty  thousand  ducats  in  effecting  this  great  object, 
the  volumes  were  not  published  till  long  after  the  author's  death.  In  1651  a 
mutilated  edition  of  the  part  of  the  work  relating  to  medical  botany  appeared 
at  Rome.  The  original  MSS.  were  supposed  to  have  been  destroyed  by  the 
great  fire  in  the  Escurial,  not  many  years  after.  Fortunately,  another  copy, 
in  the  a»<;hor's  own  hand,  was  detected  by  the  indefatigable  Munoz,  in  the 
library  of  the  Jesuits'  College  at  Madrid,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century  ; 
and  a  beautiful  edition,  from  the  famous  press  of  Ibara,  was  published  in 
that  capital,  under  the  patronage  of  government,  in  1790.  (Hist.  Plantarum, 
Praefatio. — Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  Hispana  Nova,  (Matriti,  1790,)  torn.  XL 
P-  432.) 


GOLDEN  AGE  OF  TEZCUCO. 


139 


Accommodations  on  a  princely  scale  were  provided  for  the 
sovereigns  of  Mexico  and  Tlacopan,  when  they  visited  the  court. 
The  whole  of  this  lordly  pile  contained  three  hundred  apart- 
ments, some  of  them  fifty  yards  square.**  The  height  of  the 
building  is  not  mentioned.  It  was  probably  not  great ;  but 
supplied  the  requisite  room  by  the  immense  extent  of  ground 
which  it  covered.  The  interior  was  doubtless  constructed  of 
light  materials,  especially-  of  the  rich  woods,  which,  in  that 
country,  are  remarkable,  when  polished,  for  the  brilliancy  and 
variety  of  their  colors.  That  the  more  solid  materials  of  stone 
and  stucco  were  also  liberally  employed  is  proved  by  the  re- 
mains at  the  present  day  ;  remains,  which  have  furnished  an  in- 
exhausiible  quarry  for  the  churches  and  other  edifices  since 
erected  by  the  Spaniard.-,  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  city.** 

We  are  not  informed  of  the  time  occupied  in  building  this 
palace.  But  two  hundred  thousand  workmen,  it  is  said,  were 
employed  on  it  !  *  However  this  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  the 
Tezcucan  monarchs,  like  those  of  Asia,  and  ancient  Egypt,  had 
the  control  of  immense  masses  of  men,  and  would  sometimes 
turn  the  whole  population  of  a  conquered  city,  including  the  wo- 
men, into  the  public  works.^— The  most  gigantic  monuments  of 
architecture  which  the  world  has  witnessed  would  never  have 
been  reared  by  the  hands  of  freemen. 

Adjoining  the  palace  were  buildings  for  the  king's  children, 
who,  by  his  various  wives,  amounted  to  no  less  than  sixty  sons 
and  fifty  daughters.^'     Here  they  were  instructed  in  all  the  ex- 

The  work  of  Hernandez  is  a  monument  of  industry  and  erudition,  the  more 
remarivable,  as  being  the  first  on  this  difficult  subject.  And  after  all  the  ad- 
ditional light  from  the  labors  of  later  naturalists,  it  still  holds  its  place  as  a 
book  of  the  highest  authority,  for  the  perspicuity,  fidelity,  and  thoroughness, 
with  which  the  multifarious  topics  in  it  are  discussed. 

3-nxtlilxochitl,  IJist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  36. 

■>■'  "  Some  of  the  terraces  on  wiiich  it  stood,"  says  Mr.  Bullock,  speaking 
of  this  palace,  "  are  still  entire,  and  covered  with  cement,  verv  iiarci,  ;incl  equal 

in  beautv  to  that  found  in  ancient  Roman  buildings The  great  clrarch, 

which  stands  close  by,  is  almost  entirely  built  ol  the  materials  talcen  from  the 
palace,  many  of  the  sculj^turcd  stones  frcmi  which  may  be  seen  in  the  walls, 
thouL'h  most  of  the  ornaments  are  turned  inwards.  Indeed,  our  gr.ide  in- 
formed us,  tliat  whoevor  built  a  house  at  Tczcuco  made  the  ruins  of  the  pal- 
ace serve  as  his  quarrv.'"  (Six  Months  in  Mexico,  chap.  26.)  Torquemada 
notices  the  approjjriation  of  the  materials  to  the  same  purpose.  Monarch. 
Ind.,  lib.  2,  cap.  45. 

'■'-'  Ixililxochiil,  ^iS.,  ubi  supra. 

■'*Thus,  to  jDuuish  the  Chalcas  for  their  rebellion,  the  whole  population 
were  c(jinpelled,  women  as  well  as  men,  says  the  chronicler  so  often  quoted, 
t(j  labor  on  the  royal  edifices,  fur  four  years  together;  and  large  granaries 
were  pro-.ided  with  stores  for  their  maintenance,  in  the  mean  lime.  Idem, 
His',.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  46. 

^  Tf  tlie  pec^ple  in  general  were  not  much  addicted  to  polvgamy.  the  sover- 


14© 


AZTEC  CIVILIZATiOA-. 


ercises  and  accomplishments  suited  to  their  station  ;  compre- 
hending, what  would  scarcely  find  a  place  in  a  royal  education 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  the  arts  of  working  in  metals, 
^welry,  and  feather-mosaic.  Once  in  every  four  months,  the 
whole  household,  not  excepting  the  youngest,  and  including  all 
the  officers  and  attendants  on  the  king's  person,  assembled  in  a 
grand  saloon  of  the  palace,  to  listen  to  a  discourse  from  an  ora- 
tor, probably  one  of  the  priesthood.  The  princes,  on  this  occa- 
sion, were  all  dressed  in  nequeti,  the  coarsest  manufacture  of 
the  country.  The  preacher  began  by  enlarging  on  the  obliga- 
tions of  morality,  and  of  respect  for  the  gods,  especially  im- 
portant in  persons  whose  rank  gave  such  additional  weight  to 
example.  He  occasionally  seasoned  his  homily  with  a  pertinent 
application  to  his  audience,  if  any  member  of  it  had  been 
guilty  of  a  notorious  delinquency.  From  this  wholesome  ad- 
monition the  monarch  himself  was  not  exempted,  and  the 
orator  boldly  reminded  him  of  his  paramount  duty  to  show  re- 
spect for  his  own  laws.  The  king,  so  far  from  taking  umbrage, 
received  the  lesson  with  humility  :  and  the  audience,  we  are  as- 
sured, were  often  melted  into  tears  by  the  eloquence  of  the 
preacher."  This  curious  scene  may  remind  one  of  similar  usages 
in  the  Asiatic  and  Egyptian  despotisms,  where  the  sovereign  oc- 
casionally condescended  to  stoop  from  his  pride  of  place,  and 
allow  his  memory  to  be  refreshed  with  the  conviction  of  his  own 
mortality.^''  It  soothed  the  feelings  of  the  subject,  to  find  him- 
self thus  placed,  though  but  for  a  moment,  on  a  IcA-el  with  his 
king  ;  while  it  cost  little  to  the  latter,  who  was  removed  too  far 
from  his  people,  to  suffer  any  thing  by  this  short-lived  familiarity. 
It  is  probable  that  such  an  ^ct  of  public  humiliation  would  have 
found  less  favor  with  a  prince  less  absolute. 

Nezahualcoyotl's  fondness  for  magnificence  was  shown  in  his 
numerous  villas,  which  were  embellished  with  all  that  could 
make  a  rural  retreat  delightful.  His  favorite  residence  was  at 
Tezcotzinco ;  a  conical  hill  about  two  leagues  from  the  capital.*" 
It  was  laid  out  in  terraces,  or  hanging  gardens,  having  a  flight 
of  steps  five  hundred  and  twenty  in  number,  many  of  them  hewn 

eign  it  must  be  confessed, — and  it  was  the  same,  we  shall  see,  in  Mexico, — 
made  ample  amends  for  any  self-denial  on  the  part  of  his  subjects. 

^  Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  37. 

*  The  Eg\ptian  priests  managed  the  affair  in  a  more  courtly  style,  and 
while  thev  prayed  that  all  sorts  of  kinglv  virtues  might  descend  on  the  prince, 
^ey  threw  the  blame  of  actual  delinquencies  on  his  ministers;  thus,  "not  by 
the  bitterness  of  reproof,"  savs  Diodorus^  "but  bv  the  allurements  of  praise, 
enticing  him  to  an  honest  way  of  life."     TJb.  i,  cap.  70. 

*'••  Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  42. — 'i^^  Appendix y  Part  2,  No  3, 
for  the  original  descrijition  of  this  royal  residenc*. 


GOLDEN  AGE  OF  TEZCUCO. 


141 


io  the  natural  porphyry.*^     In  the  garden  on  the  summit  was  a 

reservoir  of  water,  fed  by  an  aqueduct  that  was  carried  over  hill 
and  valley,  for  several  miles,  on  huge  buttresses  of  masonry.  A 
large  rock  stood  in  tiie  midst  of  this  basin,  sculptured  with  the 
hieroglyphics  representing  the  years  of  Nezahualcoyotl's  reign 
and  his  principal  achievements  in  each.'^  On  a  lower  level  were 
three  other  reser\'oirs,  in  each  of  which  stood  a  marble  statue 
of  a  woman,  emblematic  of  the  three  stales  of  the  empire.  An- 
other tank  contained  a  winged  lion,  (?)  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock, 
bearing  in  his  mouth  the  portrait  of  the  emperor.^'^  His  like- 
ness had  been  executed  in  gold,  wood,  feather-work,  and  stone, 
but  this  was  the  only  one  which  pi  ased  him. 

From  these  copious  basins  the  water  was  distributed  in  numer- 
ous channels  through  the  gardens,  or  was  made  to  tumble  over 
the  rocks  in  cascades,  shedding  refreshing  dews  on  the 
flowers  and  odoriferous  shrtibs  below.  In  the  depths  of  this 
fragrant  v/ilderness,  marble  porticos  and  pavilions  were  erected, 
and  baths  excavated  in  the  solid  porphyry,  which  are  still  shown 
bv  the  ignorant  nauves,  as  the  "Baths  of  Montezuma"!** 
The  visitor  descended  bv  steps  cut  in  the  living  stone,  and 
polished  so  bright  as  to  reflect  like  mirrors.*^  Tov/ards  the 
base  of  the  hill,  in  the  midst  of  cedar  groves,  whose  gigantic 
branches  threw  a  refreshing  coolness   over  the  verdure  in  the 

^^  "  Quinientos  y  vevnte  escaloncs."  Davilia  Padi'.Ia,  IIistt>i"ia  de  la  Pro- 
vincia  de  Santiago,  (Madrid,  1596,)  lib.  2,  cap.  S(. 

This  writer  who  lived  in  the  sixteenth  century,  counted  tiie  steps  himself. 
Those  which  were  not  cut  in  tlie  rock  were  crumbling  into  ruins,  as  indeed, 
every  part  of  the  establishment  was  even  then  far  gone  to  decay. 

*^On  the  summit  of  the  mount,  according  '.o  I'adilla.  stood  an  image  of  a 
(oyctl. — an  animal  resembling  a  fox, — which,  according  to  tradition,  repre- 
sented an  Indian  famous  for  his  fasts.  It  was  destroyed  bv  th.it  stancii  icon- 
cla.-^t.  Bishop  Zumniarraga  as  a  relic  of  idolatry.  (Mist.de  Santiago,  lib.  2, 
caj:).  81.)  This  figure  s\:is,  no  doubt,  the  emblem  <;f  Nezaliualcovti  himself, 
wh.se  name,  as  elsewhere  noticed,  signified  ''hungry  fo.\." 

4.i "  Hecho  de  una  pefia  un  leon  de  mas  de  dos  brazas  de  largo  con  sus  alas 
y  piumas:  e.^taba  hechado  y  mirando  a  la  ]jarte  del  oriente,  en  cuia  lioca 
asomaba  nn  rostro,  que  era  el  mismo  retrato  del  Key."  Ixiiilxochitl,  Hist. 
Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  42. 

^  Mullock  speaks  of  a  "  beautiful  basin,  twelve  feet  long  by  cigdn  wide,  hav- 
ing a  well  five  feet  by  four  deep  in  the  centre,"  &c.,  &c.  Whether  truth  lies  in 
lh(;  Ijottom  of  this  well  is  nrjt  so  clc.ir.  J.atrtjbe  describes  the  baths  as  "two 
singular  basins,  ]5erhaj)s  two  feet  and  a  half  in  diameter,  n<jt  large  enough  for 
any  monarch  bigger  tliaii  (Jberon  to  take  a  duck  in."  (C;om|).  Si.K  Months  in 
Me.Tico,  ciiap.  26;  and  Rambler  in  Mexico,  let.  7.)  Ward  speaks  much,  to 
the  same  purpose,  (. Mexico  in  1827,  (London,)  1828,  vol.  If.  p.  296,)  which 
agrees  with,  verbal  accourits  J  have  received  of  the  same  spot. 

**  r)radas  hechas  de  la  misma  pefia  tan  bien  gravadas  v  liz.is  que  parecian 
pspejos."  (Ixtlilxochitl,  MS.,  ubi  sui)ra. )  The  travellers  just  cited  r.otict 
the  beautiful  i^jlish  stiil  visible  in  the  por|;liyry. 


^2  AZTEC  civilization: 

lultriest  seasons  of  the  year,^  rose  the  royal  villa,  with  its  light 

arcades  and  airy  halls,  drinking  in  the  sweet  perfumes  of  the 
gardens.  Here  the  monarch  often  retired,  to  throw  off  the  bur- 
den of  state,  and  refresh  his  wearied  spirits  in  the  society  of  his 
favorite  wives,  reposing  during  the  noontide  heats  in  the  em- 
bowering shades  of  his  paradise,  or  mingling,  in  the  cool  of  the 
evening,  in  iheir  festive  sports  and  dances.  Here  he  enter- 
tained his  imperial  brothers  of  Mexico  and  Tlacopan,  and  fol- 
lowed the  hardier  pleasures  of  the  chase  in  the  noble  woods 
that  stretched  for  miles  around  his  villa,  flourishing  in  all  their 
primeval  majesty.  Here,  too,  he  often  repaired  in  the  latter 
days  of  his  life,  when  age  had  tempered  ambition  and  cooled 
the  ardor  of  his  blood,  to  pursue  in  solitude  the  studies  of  phil- 
osophy and  gather  wisdom  from  meditation. 

The  extraordinary  accounts  of  the  Tezcucan  architecture  are 
confirmed,  in  the  main,  by  the  relics  which  still  cover  the  hill  of 
Tezcotzinco,  or  are  half  buried  beneath  its  surface.  They  attract 
little  attention,  indeed,  in  the  country,  where  their  true  history 
has  long  since  passed  into  oblivion  ;  *"  while  the  traveller,  w-hose 
curiosity  leads  him  to  the  spot,  speculates  on  their  probable 
origin,  and,  as  he  stumbles  over  the  huge  fragments  of  sculpt- 
ured porphyry  and  granite,  refers  them  to  the  primitive  races 
who  spread  their  colossal  architecture  over  the  country,  long  be- 
fore the  coming  of  the  Acolhuans  and  the  Aztecs.** 

^^'  Padillasaw  entire  pieces  of  cedar  among  the  ruins,  ninety  feet  long,  and  four 
in  diameter.  Some  of  llie  massive  portals,  he  observed,  were  made  of  a  single 
stone.  (Hist,  de  Santiago,  lib.  ii,  cap.  8i.)  Peter  Martyr  notices  an  enor- 
mous wooden  beam,  used  in  the  construction  of  the  palaces  of  I'ezcuco,  which 
was  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  long,  by  eight  feet  in  diameter!  The  ac- 
counts of  this  and  similar  huge  pieces  of  timber  were  so  astonishing,  he  adds, 
that  he  could  not  have  received  them  except  on  the  most  unexceptionable  tes- 
timony. De  Orbe  Novo,  dec.  5.  cap.  10. 

*''  It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  Mexican  government  should  not 
take  a  deeper  interest  in  the  Indian  antiquities.  What  might  not  l^e  effected 
by  a  few  hanrls  draw  from  the  idle  garrisons  of  some  of  the  neighlDoring  towns, 
and  employed  in  excavating  this  ground,  "  the  Mount  Palatine  " '  of  Mexico  ! 
But,  unhappil;.,  the  age  of  violence  has  been  succeeded  by  one  of  apathy. 

**  "  They  are.  doubtless,"  savs  Mr.  Latrobe,  speaking  of  what  he  calls, 
"these  inexplicable  ruins," — "rather  of  Toltec  than  Aztec  origin,  and,  per- 
haps, with  still  more  probability,  attributable  to  a  people  of  an  age  yet  more 
remote."  (Rambler  in  Mexico,  let.  7.)  '"I  am  of  opinion.'"  says  Mr. 
Bullock,  '■  that  these  were  antiquities  prior  to  the  discovery  of  America,  and 
erected  bv  a  [jeopie  whose  historv  was  lost  even  before  the  building  of  the 
city  of  Mexico. — Who  can  solve  this  difTficulty  ?"  (Six  months  in  Mexico, 
ubi  supra. )  Tiie  reader  who  takes  Ixtlilxoch'itl  for  his  guide  will  have  no 
great  trouble  \'\  solving  it.  He  will  find  here,  as  he  might,  probably,  in 
some  other  in-tances.  that  one  need  go  little  higher  than  the  Conquest,  for 
the  origin  of  antiquities,  which  claim  to  \)t  coeval  with  Phoenicia  and 
Ancient  Egypt. 


Acco.uPLisneD  princes. 


143 


The  Tezcucan  princes  were  used  to  entertain  a  great  numbe: 
of  concubines.  They  had  but  one  lawful  wife,  to  whose  issue 
the  crown  descended.**  Nezahualcoyotl  remained  unmarri'^'^  ';o 
a  late  period.  He  was  disappointed  in  an  early  attachment,  as 
the  princess,  who  had  been  educated  in  privacy  to  be  the  partner 
of  his  throne,  gave  her  hand  to  another.  The  injured  monarch 
submitted  the  affair  to  the  proper  tribunal.  The  parties,  how- 
ever, were  proved  to  have  been  ignorant  of  the  destination  of  the 
lady,  and  the  court,  with  an  independence  which  reflects  equal 
honor  on  the  judges  who  could  give,  and  the  monarch  who  could 
receive  the  sentence,  acquitted  the  young  couple.  This  story  is 
sadly  contrasted  by  the  following.*-' 

The  king  devoured  his  chagrin  in  the  solitude  of  his  beautful 
villa  of  Tezcotzinco,  or  sought  to  divert  it  by  travelling.  On  one 
of  his  journeys  he  was  hospitably  entertained  by  a  potent  vassal, 
the  old  lord  of  Tepechpan,  who,  to  do  his  sovereign  more  honor, 
caused  him  to  be  attended  at  the  banquet  by  a  noble  maiden, 
betrothed  to  himself,  and  who,  after  the  fashion  of  the  country, 
had  been  educated  under  his  own  roof.  She  was  of  the  blood 
royal  of  Mexico,  and  nearly  related,  moreover,  to  the  Tezcucan 
monarch.  The  latter,  who  had  all  the  amorous  temperament  of 
the  South,  was  captivated  by  the  grace  and  personal  charms  of 
the  youthful  Hebe,  and  conceived  a  violent  passion  for  her.  He 
did  not  disclose  it  to  any  one,  however,  but,  on  his  return  home, 
resolved  to  gratify  it,  though  at  the  expense  of  his  own  honor,  by 
sweeping  away  the  only  obstacle  which  stood  in  his  path. 

He  accordingly  sent  an  order  to  the  chief  of  Tepechpan  to 
take  command  of  an  expedition  set  on  foot  against  the  Tlasca- 
lans.  At  the  same  time  he  instructed  two  Tezcucan  chiefs  to 
keep  near  the  person  of  the  old  lord,  and  bring  him  mto  the 
thickest  of  the  fight,  where  he  might  lose  his  life.  He  assured 
them,  this  had  been  forfeited  by  a  great  crime,  but  that,  from 
regard  for  his  vassal's  past  services,  he  was  willing  to  cover  uj? 
hi.-,  disgrace  by  an  honorable  death. 

'i'he  veteran,  who  had  long  lived  in  retirement  on  liis  estates, 
saw  himself,  with  astonishment,  called  so  suddanly  and  need- 
lessly into  action,  for  which  so  manv  \'ounger  men  were  beiler 
fitted.  He  suspected  the  cause,  and.  in  the  farewell  entertaiiv 
ment  to  his  friends,  uttered  a  piesentiment  of  his  sad  destiny. 
His  predictions  were  too  soon  verilied  ;  and  a  few  weel<s  placed 
the  hand  of  his  virgin  bride  at  her  own  disposal. 

Xezahualcoyotl  did  not  think  it  prudent  to  break  his  passion 
publicly  to  the  princess,  so  soon    after  the  death   of  his  victim. 

*^  Zurita,  Kajjpi^rt,  p.  u. 

*>  Ixtlilxochitl.  Hist,  Chi<.L.  MS.,  cap.  43. 


144 


AZTEC  CIVILIZAriOX. 


He  opened  a  '.  jrres'r.ondence  with  her  through  a  female  relative, 

and  expresb^j  hi.,  deep  symparhy  for  her  less.  At  the  same 
time,  he  tendered  the  best  consolation  in  his  power,  by  an  offer 
of  his  heart,  and  hand.  Her  former  lover  had  been  too  well 
stricken  in  years  for  the  maiden  to  remam  long  inconsolable. 
She  was  not  aware  of  the  perfidious  ploi  against  his  life  ;  and, 
after  a  decent  time,  she  was  ready  to  comply  with  her  duty,  by 
placing  herself  at  the  disposal  of  her  royal  kinsman. 

It  was  arranged  by  the  king,  in  order  to  give  a  more  natural 
aspect  to  the  affair,  and  prevent  all  suspicion  of  the  unworthy 
part  he  had  acted,  that  the  princess  should  present  herself  in  his 
grounds  at  Tezcotzinco,  to  witness  some  public  ceremony  there. 
Nezahualcoyotl  was  standing  in  a  balcony  of  the  palace,  when 
she^  appeared,  and  inquired,  as  if  struck  with  her  beauty  for  the 
first  time,  ''  who  the  lovely  young  creature  was,  in  his  garden." 
When  his  courtiers  had  acquainted  him  with  her  name  and  r?nk 
he  ordered  her  to  be  conducted  to  the  palace,  that  she  might  re- 
ceive the  attentions  due  to  her  station.  The  interview  was  soon 
follov.ed  by  a  public  declaration  of  his  passion  ;  and  the  marriage 
was  celebrated  not  long  after,  with  great  pomp,  in  the  presence 
of  his  court,  and  of  his  brother  monarchs  of  Mexico  and  Tlaco- 
pan."^ 

This  story,  which  furnishes  so  obvious  a  counterpart  to  that 
of  David  and  Uriah,  is  told  with  great  circumstantiality,  both  by 
the  king's  son  and  grandson,  from  whose  narratives  Ixtlilxochitl 
derived  it.^^  They  stigmatize  the  action  as  the  basest  in  their 
great  ancestor's  life.  It  is  indeed  too  base  not  to  leave  an  indeli- 
ble stain  on  any  character,  however  pure  in  other  respects,  and 
exalted. 

The  king  was  strict  in  the  execution  of  his  laws,  though  his 
natural  disposition  led  him  to  temper  justice  with  mercy.  Many 
anecdotes  are  told  of  the  benevolent  interest  he  took  in  the  con- 
cerns of  his  subjects,  and  of  his  anxiety  to  detect  and  reward 
merit,  even  in  the  most  humble.  It  was  common  for  him  to 
ramble  among  them  in  disguise,  like  the  celebrated  caliph  in  the 
''Arabian  Nights,"  mingling  freelv  in  conversation,  and  ascer- 
taining their  actual  condition  with  his  own  eyes.'^ 

On  one  such  occasion,  v.hen  attended  only  by  a  single  lord, 
he  met  with  a  boy  who  was  gathering  sticks  in  a  field   for  fuel. 

«  Idem.  Hi?t.  Chicb.,  MS.,  cap.  43. 

*"  Jilcni.  uhi  supra. 

^  '■  ■■  I^n  tr.iie  de  cazador,  (que  lo  acostumbraba  a  hacer  muy  de  ordinario,) 
aalicndo  a  soias.  v  disfrazado  para  que  no  fiiese  conocido,  4  reconocer  las 
falta.s  y  nctesiilad  fjuc  l.avia  en  la  republicapara  remediarlas."  Idem,  tlist- 
Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  46. 


ACCO^TPLlSIfED  PRIXCES. 


^45 


He  inquired  of  him  "  why  he  did  not  go  into  the  neighboring 
forest,  where  he  would  find  a  plenty  of  them."  To  which  the 
lad  answered,  "  It  was  the  king's  wood  and  he  would  punish  hir»" 
with  death,  if  he  trespassed  tiiere."  The  royal  forests  were  very 
extensive  in  Tezcuco,  and  were  guarded  by  laws  full  as  severe 
as  those  of  the  Norman  tyrants  in  England,  "  What  kind  of 
man  is  your  king  ? "  asked  the  monarch,  willing  to  learn  the 
effect  of  these  prohibitions  on  his  own  popularity.  "  A  very 
hard  man,"  answered  the  boy,  "who  denies  his  people  what  God 
has  given  them."  "*  Nezahualcoyotl  urged  him  not  to  mind  such 
arbitrary  laws,  but  to  glean  his  sticks  in  the  forest,  as  there  was 
no  one  present  who  would  betray  him.  But  the  boy  sturdily 
refused,  bluntly  accusing  the  disguised  king,  at  the  same  time, 
of  being  a  traitor,  and  of  wishing  to  bring  him  into  trouble, 

Nezahualcoyotl,  on  returning  to  his  palace,  ordered  the  child 
and  his  parents  to  be  summoned  before  him.  They  received  the 
orders  with  astonishment,  but,  on  entering  the  presence,  the  boy 
at  once  recognized  the  person  with  whom  he  had  discoursed  so 
unceremoniously,  and  he  was  filled  with  consternation.  The 
good-natured  monarch,  however,  relieved  his  apprehensions,  by 
thanking  him  for  the  lesson  he  had  given  him,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  commended  his  respect  for  the  laws,  and  praised  his 
parents  for  the  manner  in  which  they  had  trained  their  son.  He 
then  dismissed  the  parties  with  a  liberal  largess  ;  and  afterwards 
mitigated  the  severity  of  the  forest  laws,  so  as  to  allow  persons 
to  gather  any  wood  they  might  find  on  the  ground,  if  they  did 
not  meddle  with  the  standing  timber.^ 

Another  adventure  is  told  of  him,  with  a  poor  woodman  and 
his  wife,  who  had  brought  their  little  load  of  billets  for  sale  to 
the  market-place  of  Tezcuco,  The  man  was  bitterly  lamenting 
his  hard  lot,  and  the  difficulty  with  which  he  earned  a  wretched 
subsistence,  while  the  master  of  the  palace  before  which  they 
were  standing  lived  an  idle  life,  without  toil,  and  with  all  the 
luxuries  in  the  world  at  his  command. 

He  was  going  on  in  his  complaints,  when  the  good  woman 
stopped  him,  by  reminding  him  he  might  be  overheard.  He  was 
so,  by  Nezahualcoyotl  himself,  who,  standing,  screened  from 
observation,  at  a  latticed  window,  which  overlooked  the  market, 
was  amusing  himself,  as  he  was  wont,  with  ol^serving  the  com- 
mon people  chaffering  in  the  square.  He  immediately  ordered 
the  querulous  couple  into  his  presence.  They  appeared  trem- 
bling and  conscience-struck  before   him.     The  king  gravely  in- 

**  Un  hombresillo  miserable,  pues  quita  a  los  homhres  lo  que  Dios  d  mano* 
Ucnas  les  da."  Ibid.,  loc.  cit. 
5'  Ibid.,  cap.  46. 


r^o  AZTEC  CIVILIZATION, 

quired  what  they  had  said.  As  they  answered  him  truly,  he  told 
them  they  should  reflect,  that,  if  he  had  great  treasures  at  his 
command,  he  had  still  greater  calls  for  them ;  that,  far  from 
leading  an  easy  life,  he  was  oppressed  with  the  whole  burden  of 
government ;  and  concluded  by  admonishing  them  "to  be  more 
cautious  in  future,  as  walls  had  ears."  ^  He  then  ordered  his 
officers  to  bring  a  quantity  of  cloth,  and  a  generous  supply  ot 
cacao,  (the  coin  of  the  country,)  and  dismissed  them.  "  Go." 
said  he  ;  "  with  the  little  you  now  have,  you  will  be  rich  ;  while 
with  all  my  riches,  I  shall  still  be  poor.^^ 

It  was  not  his  passion  to  hoard.  He  dispensed  his  revenues 
munificently,  seeking  out  poor,  but  meritorious  objects,  on  whom 
to  bestow  them.  He  was  particularly  mindful  of  disabled 
soldiers,  and  those  who  had  in  any  way  sustained  loss  in  the  pub- 
lic service;  and,  in  case  of  their  death,  extended  assistance  ta 
their  surviving  families.  Open  mendicity  was  a  thing  he  would 
never  t' 'erate,  but  chastized  it  with  exemplary  rigor.68 

It  wouid  be  incredible,  that  a  man  of  the  enlarged  mind  and 
endowments  of  Nez".hualcoyotl  should  acquiesce  in  the  sordid 
superstitions  of  his  countrymen,  and  still  more  in  the  sanguinar\' 
rites  borrowed  by  them  from  the  Aztecs.  In  truth,  his  humane 
temper  shrunk  from  these  cruel  ceremonies,  and  he  strenuously 
endeavored  to  recall  his  people  to  the  more  pure  and  simple 
worship  of  the  ancient  Toltecs.  A  circumstance  produced  a 
temporary  change  in  his  conduct. 

He  had  been  married  some  years  to  the  wife  he  had  so  un- 
righteously obtained,  but  was  not  blessed  with  issue.  The 
priests  represented  that  it  was  owing  to  his  neglect  of  the  gods 
of  his  country,  and  that  his  only  remedy  was,  to  propitiate  them 
by  human  sacrifice.  The  king  reluctantly  consented,  and  the 
akars  once  more  smoked  with  the  blood  ot  slaughtered  captives. 
But  it  was  all  in  vain  ;  and  he  indignantly  exclaimed,  "  These 
idols  of  wood  and  stone  can  neither  hear  nor  feel :  much  less 
could  they  make  the  heavens,  and  the  earth,  and  man,  the  lord 
of  it.  These  must  be  the  work  of  the  all-powerful,  unknown 
God,  Creator  of  the  universe,  on  whom  alone  I  must  rely  tos 
consolation  and  support.^^ 

58  «  porque  las  paredes  oian."  (Tbid.)  A  European  proverb  among  the 
American  .Aborigines  looks  too  strange,  not  to  make  one  suspect  the  land  ot 
the  (.  iT'onicler. 

''''  '•  Le  d'io,  que  con  aquello  poco  le  bastaba,  y  viviria  bien  aventuradc  , 
y  el  con  toda  la  maquina  que  le  parecia  que  tenia  arte,  r,-  ^enia  nada;  y  asi 
JO  despidii  "  Ibid. 

5*  Ibid. 

ry:<  <i  Verdaderainente  ios  Dioses  cjue  lo  adoro,  que  son  I'dolos  depirdra  que 
no  hablen,  ni  biei  ten,  r,o  puditron  hacer  i.i  formar  '.a   hermosura  del  cielo,  <X 


ACCOMPLISHED  PRINCES.  147 

He  then  withdrew  to  his  rural  palace  of  Tezcotzinco,  where 
he  remained  forty  days,  fasting  and  praying  at  stated  hours,  and 
offering  up  no  other  sacrifice,  than  the  sweet  incense  of  copal, 
and  aromatic  herbs  and  gums.  At  the  expiration  of  this  time, 
he  is  said  to  have  been  comforted  by  a  vision  assuring  him  of  the 
success  of  his  petition.  At  all  events,  such  proved  to  be  the 
fact ;  and  this  was  followed  by  the  cheering  intelligence  of  the 
triumph  of  his  arms  in  a  quarter  where  he  had  lately  experienced 
some  humiliating  reverses.*^ 

Greatly  strengthened  in  his  former  religious  convictions,  he 
now  openly  professed  his  faith,  and  was  more  earnest  to  wean 
his  subjects  from  their  degrading  superstitions,  and  to  substitute 
nobler  and  more  spiritual  conceptions  of  the  Deity.  He  built 
a  temple  in  the  usual  pyramidal  form,  and  on  the  summit  a  tower 
nine  stories  high,  to  represent  the  nine  heavens  ;  a  tenth  was  sur- 
mounted by  a  roof  painted  black,  and  profusely  gilded  with  stars, 
on  the  outside,  and  incrusted  with  metals  and  precious  stones 
within.  He  dedicated  this  to  "  the  unknowri  God,  the  Cause  of 
causes."  ^^  Jt  seems  probable,  from  the  emblem  on  the  tower,  as 
well  as  from  the  complexion  of  his  verses,  as  we  shall  see,  that 
he  mingled  with  his  reverence  for  the  Supreme  the  astral  worship 
which  existed  among  the  Toltecs.^  Various  musical  instruments 
were  placed  on  the  top  of  the  tower,  and  the  sound  of  thens, 
accompanied  by  the  ringing  of  a  sonorous  metal  struck  by 
a  mallet,  summoned  the  worshipers  to  prayers,  at  regular 
seasons."^     No  image  was  allowed  in  the  edifice,  as  unsuited  tJ 

sol.  luna.  y  estrellas  que  lo  hermosean,  v  dan  luz  a  la  tierra,  rios,  aguas,  y 
fuentes,  arboies,  y  plantas  (jue  la  hermosean,  las  genles  cjue  la  poseen,  y 
todo  lo  criadij;  algun  Dies  inuy  poderoso,  oculto,  y  no  conocido  es  el  Cria- 
dor  de  todu  c!  utiiverso.  El  solo  es  el  que  pucde  consolarme  en  mi  afliccion, 
y  socorrerme  en  tan  grande  angustia  como  mi  corazon  siente."  MS.  de  Ix- 
tlilxochitl. 

"'  M.S.  de  Ixtlilxochiil. 

1"he  manuscript  here  (juoted  is  one  of  the  many  left  by  the  author  on  the 
anti([uities  of  his  country,  and  forms  part  of  a  voluminous  compilation  made 
in  Mexico  bv  father  Vega,  in  1792,  by  order  of  the  Spanish  government.  See 
Appendix,  Partz,  A^o.  2. 

*'  "  Al  Dios  no  conocido,  causa  tie  las  causas."      MS.  de  Ixtlilxochiil. 

^^  Their  earliest  temples  were  dedicated  to  the  Sun.  The  Moon  they  wor- 
shipped as  his  wife,  and  the  Stars  as  his  sisters.  (Veytia,  Hist.  Aiitig.,  torn, 
I,  cap.  25. )  1  he  ruins  still  existing  at  Teotihuacan,  about  seven  leagues 
from  Mexico,  are  supposed  to  have  been  temples,  raised  by  this  .uicient  peo- 
ple, in  honor  of  the  two  great  deities,      l^oturini.  Idea,  p.  42. 

'■''  MS.  de  Ixtlilxochitl. 

"  This  was  evidently  a, .^i?;/^'',"  says  Mr.  Ranking,  who  treads  with  cnviabl.; 
COiififlence  over  the  "  suppositos  cineres,"  in  the  path  of  the  antiquary.  .See 
hi-  Ilistoiical  licsearches  on  the  Coiujuest  of  Peru,  Mexico,  jfcc.,  by  the 
Mongols,  (London,  1S27,)  j).   jim. 


14« 


AZTEC  CIVILIZATION. 


the  "  invisible  God  "  ;  and  the  people  were  expressly  prohibited 
from  profaning  the  altars  with  blood,  or  any  other  sacrifices  than 
that  of  the  perfume  of  flowers  and  sweet-scented  gums. 

The  remainder  of  his  days  was  chiefly  spent  in  his  delicious 
solitudes  of  Tezcotzinco,  where  he  devoted  himself  to  astrono- 
mical and,  probably,  astrological  studies,  and  to  meditation  on 
his  immortal  destiny, — giving  utterance  to  his  feelings  in  songs, 
or  rather  hymns,  of  much  solemnity  and  pathos.  An  extract 
from  one  of  these  will  convey  some  idea  of  his  religious 
speculations.  The  pensive  tenderness  of  the  verses  quoted  in  a 
preceding  page  is  deepened  here  into  a  mournful,  and  even 
gloomy  coloring  :  while  the  wounded  spirit,  instead  of  seeking 
relief  in  the  convivial  sallies  of  a  young  and  buoyant  tempera- 
ment, turns  for  consolation  to  the  world  beyond  the  grave. 

"  All  things  on  earth  have  their  term,  and,  in  the  most  joyous 
career  of  their  vanity  and  splendor,  their  strength  fails,  and  they 
sink  into  the  dust.  All  the  round  world  is  but  a  sepulchre;  and 
there  is  nothing,  which  lives  on  its  surface,  that  shall  not  be 
hidden  and  entombed  beneath  it.  Rivers,  torrents,  and  streams 
move  onward  to  their  destination.  Not  one  tlows  back  to  its 
pleasant  source.  They  rush  onward,  hastening  to  bury  them- 
selves in  the  deep  bosom  of  the  ocean.  The  things  of  yesterday 
are  no  more  to-day  ;  and  things  of  to-day  shall  cease,  perhaps, 
on  the  morrow."*  The  cemetery  is  full  of  the  loathsome  dust  of 
bodies  once  quickened  by  living  souls,  who  occupied  thrones, 
presided  over  assemblies,  marshalled  armies,  subdued  provinces, 
arrogated  to  themselves  worship,  were  puffed  up  with  vainglorious 
pomp,  and  power,  and  empire. 

"  But  these  glories  have  all  passed  awav,  like  the  fearful  smoke 
that  issues  from  the  throat  of  Popocatepetl,  with  no  other 
memorial  of  iheir  existence  than  the  record  on  the  page  of  the 
chronicler. 

"  The  great,  the  wise,  the  valiant,  the  beautiful. — alas  !  where 
are  they  now  ? — They  are  all  mingled  with  the  clod  ;  and  that 
which  has  befallen  them  shall  happen  to  us,  and  to  those  that 
come  after  us.  Vet  let  us  tawe  coinage,  illustrious  nobles  and 
chieftains,  true  friends  and  loyal  subjects, — Id  us  aspire  to  that 
/icaTXH,  ij/icri:    all  is  eterfuil,  ivul  o:vn/J)fion  cannot  come.^'^     The 

*'■*  Toda  la  reclondez  de  la  ticrra  cs  un  sepuicio:  no  hay  cosa  que  sustente 
f,r.e  con  titulode  piedad  no  la  esconda  v  enticrre.  Corren  los  rios,  los  arroy- 
OS.  'as  fuentes,  y  las  aguas,  ningunas  retroceden  para  susalegros  nacimientos: 
actk;ra;:se  cun  ansa  para  ios  vastos  dotiiinios  de  Tluloca  ,  Neptuno],  y  cuanto 
nin-  ?e  arrinian  a  sus  dilatadas  margenes,  tanto  mas  van  lobarando  las  melan- 
coiicas  urnas  jiara  sepiiltarse.  Lo  que  f ue  ayer  no  es  hoy,  ni  lo  de  hoy  se  afi- 
an/a  que  scramafiana  " 

'•'  ''  Aspirenios  al  cielo,  que  alii  tudo  cs  ccrno  v  nada  se  corrompe." 


ACCOMPLISHED  PRINCES. 


149 


horrors  of  the  tomb  are  but  the  cradle  of  the  Sun,  and  the  dark 
shadows  of  death  are  brilliant  lights  for  the  stars.'"*  The 
mystic  Import  ot  the  last  sentence  seems  to  point  to  that  super- 
stition respecting  the  mansions  of  the  Sun,  which  forms  so 
beautiful  a  contrast  to  the  dark  features  of  the  Aztec  mythology. 

At  length,  about  the  year  1470,^'  Nezahuacoyotl,  full  of  years 
and  honors,  felt  himself  drawing  near  his  end.  Almost  half  a 
century  had  elapsed  since  he  mounted  the  throne  of  Tezcuco, 
He  had  found  his  kingdom  dismembered  by  faction,  and  bowed 
to  the  dust  beneath  the  yoke  of  a  foreign  tyrant,  He  had 
broken  that  yoke  ;  had  breathed  new  life  into  the  nation,  re- 
newed its  ancient  institutions,  extended  wide  its  domain  ;  had 
seen  it  flourishing  in  all  the  activity  of  trade  and  agriculture, 
gathering  strength  from  its  enlarged  resources,  and  daily  ad- 
vancing higher  and  higher  in  the  great  march  of  civilization. 
All  this  he  had  seen,  and  might  fairly  attribute  no  small  portion 
of  It  to  his  own  wise  and  beneficent  rule.  His  long  and  glorious 
day  was  now  drawing  to  its  close  ;  and  he  contemplated  the 
event  with  the  same  serenity,  which  he  had  shown  under  the 
clouds  of  its  morning  and  in  its  meridian  splendor. 

A  short  time  before  his  death,  he  gathered  around  him  those 
of  his  children  in  whom  he  most  confided,  his  chief  counsellors, 
the  ambassador  of  Mexico,  and  Tlacopan,  and  his  little  son,  the 
heir  to  the  crown,  his  only  offspring  by  the  queen.  He  was  then 
not  eight  years  old ;  but  had  already  given,  as  far  as  so  tender  a 
blossom  might,  the  rich  promise  of  future  excellence.''^" 

''''  "  El  horror  del  sepulcro  es  lisongera  cuna  para  el,  las  funestas  sombras, 
briilantes  laces  para  los  astros." 

The  original  text  and  a  Spanish  translation  of  this  poem  first  appeared,  I 
believe,  in  a  work  of  Granados  y  Galvez.  (Tardes  Americanas,  (Mexico, 
177S,)  p.  9oetseq.)  The  original  is  in  the  Otomie  tongue,  and  both,  to- 
gether with  a  French  version,  have  been  inserted  by  M.  Ternaux-C-mpans 
m  the  Appendix  to  his  translation  of  Ixtlilxochitl's  Hist,  des  Chichimeques 
(tonn.  1.  pp.  359-367.)  Bustamanie,  who  iias,  also,  published  the  Spanish 
version  in  his  (Valeria  dc  Antiguos  T'rincipcs  Mejicanos,  (Puebla,  1821.  (pp. 
16,  17).)  calls  it  the  "  Ode  of  the  Flower,"  which  was  recited  at  a  banquet 
of  the  great  Texcucan  nobles.  If  this  last,  however,  be  the  same  mentioned 
by  Tor([ueinada,  {.Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  2,  cap,  45,)  it  must  have  been  written 
in  the  Tezcucan  tongue;  and,  indeed,  it  is  not  probable  that  the  Otomie.  an 
Indian  dialect,  so  distinct  from  the  languages  of  Anahuac,  however  well  un- 
cicrstood  by  the  royal  poet,  could  have  been  comprehended  by  a  miscellane- 
ous niidience  of  his  cnmirvmen. 

■"  An  approximation  to  a  date  is  the  most  one  can  hope  to  arrive  at  with 
Ixtiiixochitl.  who  has  entangled  his  chronologv  in  a  manner  beyond  my  skill 
to  unravel.  Thus,  after  telling  us  that  Nczahualcoyotl  was  fifteen  years  old 
when  his  father  was  slain  in  14 18,  he  savs  he  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-on% 
fal  1462.  Instar  omnium.  Conq).  Hist.  Chicli.,  MS.,  cap.  l8,  19,  49. 

•MS.  de  Ixtiiixochitl, — al»o,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  49. 

Mexico  7  Vol.  1 


Igo 


AZTEC  civilization: 


After  tenderly  er/uiacing  the  child,  the  dying  monarch  threw 
over  him  the  robes  of  sovereignty.  He  then  gave  audience  to 
the  ambassadors,  and  when  they  had  retired,  made  the  boy  repeat 
the  substance  of  the  conversation.  He  followed  this  by  such 
counsels  as  were  suited  to  his  comprehension,  and  which,  when 
remembered  through  the  long  vista  of  after  years,  would  serve  as 
lights  to  guide  him  in  his  government  of  the  kingdom.  He  be- 
sought him  not  to  neglect  the  worship  of  "the  unknown  God," 
regretting  that  he  himself  had  been  unworthy  to  know  him,  and 
intimating  his  conviction  that  the  time  would  come  when  he  should 
be  known  and  worshipped  throughout  the  land.*^^ 

He  next  addressed  himself  to  that  one  of  his  sons,  in  whom 
he  placed  the  greatest  trust,  and  whom  he  had  selected  as  the 
guardian  of  the  realm.  "  From  this  hour,"  said  he  to  him,  "  you 
will  fill  the  place  that  I  have  filled,  of  father  to  this  child  ;  you  will 
teach  him  to  live  as  he  ought ;  and  by  your  counsels  he  will  rule 
over  the  empire.  Stand  in  his  place,  and  be  his  guide,  till  he  shall 
be  of  age  to  govern  for  himself."  Then,  turning  to  his  other  chil- 
dren, he  admonished  them  to  live  united  with  one  another,  and  to 
show  all  loyalty  to  their  prince,  who,  though  a  child,  already 
manifested  a  discretion  far  above  his  years.  "  Be  true  to  him," 
he  added,  "and he  will  maintain  you  in  your  rights  and  digni- 
ties." ™ 

Feeling  his  end  approaching,  he  exclaimed,  "  Do  not  bewail 
me  with  idle  lamentations.  But  sing  the  song  of  gladness,  and 
show  a  courageous  spirit,  that  the  nations  I  have  subdued  may 
not  believe  you  disheartened,  but  may  feel  that  each  one  of  you 
is  strong  enough  to  keep  them  in  obedience  !  "  The  undaunted 
spirit  of  the  monarch  shone  forth  even  in  the  agonies  of  death. 
That  stout  heart,  however,  melted,  as  he  took  leave  of  his 
children  and  friends,  weeping  tenderly  over  them,  while  he  bade 
each  a  last  adieu.  When  they  had  withdrawn,  he  ordered  the 
officers  of  the  palace  to  allow  no  one  to  enter  it  again.  Soon 
after,  he  expired,  in  the  seventy-second  year  of  his  age,  and  the 
forty-third  of  his  reign." 

Thus  died  the  greatest  monarch,  and,  if  one  foul  blot  could  be 
effaced,  perhaps  the  best,  who  ever  sat  upon  an  Indian  throne. 
His  character   is  delineated  with  tolerable  impartiality  by  his 

^  "  No  consentiendo  que  haya  sacrificios  de  gente  humana,  que  Dios  se 
enoja  de  ello,  castigando  con  rigor  a  los  que  lo  hicieren  ;  que  el  dolor  que 
llevo  es  no  tener  luz,  ni  conocimiento,  ni  ser  merecedor  de  conocer  tan  gran 
Dios,  el  qual  tengo  por  cierto  que  ya  que  los  presentes  no  lo  conozcan,  ha  di 
venir  tiempo  en  que  sea  conocido  y  adorado  en  esta  titrra"  MS.  de  Ixtlil- 
xochitl. 

™  Idem,  ubi  supra;  also  Hist.  Cliich.,  cap.  49. 

^  Uiat.  Chich.,  cap.  49. 


ACCOMPLISHED  PRINCES. 


151 


kinsman,  the  Tezcucan  chronicler,  "  He  was  wise,  valiant, 
liberal ;  and,  when  we  consider  the  magnanimity  of  his  soul,  the 
grandeur  and  success  of  his  enterprises,  his  deep  policy,  as  well 
as  daring,  we  must  admit  him  to  have  far  surpassed  every  other 
prince  and  captain  of  this  New  World.  He  had  few  failings  him- 
self, and  rigorously  punished  those  of  others.  He  preferred  the 
public  to  his  private  interest ;  was  most  charitable  in  his  nature, 
often  buying  articles,  at  double  their  worth,  of  poor  and  honest 
persons,  and  giving  them  away  again  to  the  sick  and  infirm.  In 
seasons  of  scarcity  he  was  particularly  bountiful,  remitting  the 
taxes  of  his  vassals,  and  supplying  their  wants  from  the  roval 
granaries.  He  put  no  faith  in  the  idolatrous  worship  of  the 
country.  He  was  well  instructed  in  moral  science,  and  sought, 
above  all  things,  to  obtain  light  for  knowing  the  true  God.  He 
believed  in  one  God  only,  the  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth,  by 
whom  we  have  our  being,  who  never  revealed  himself  to  us  in 
human  form,  nor  in  any  other ;  with  whom  the  souls  of  the  vir- 
tuous are  to  dwell  after  death,  while  the  wicked  will  sufifer  pains 
unspeakable.  He  invoked  the  Most  High,  as  '  He  by  whom  we 
live,'  and  '  Who  has  all  things  in  himself.'  He  recognized  the 
Sun  for  his  father,  and  the  Earth  for  his  mother.  He  taught  his 
children  not  to  confide  in  idols,  and  only  to  conform  to  the  out- 
ward worship  of  them  from  deference  to  public  opinion.  '^  If  he 
could  not  entirely  abolish  human  sacrifices,  derived  from  the 
Aztecs,  he,  at  least,  restricted  them  to  slaves  and  captives."  '^ 

I  have  occupied  so  much  space  with  this  illustrious  prince,  that 
but  little  remains  for  his  son  and  successor,  Nezahualpilli.  I 
have  thought  it  better,  in  our  narrow  limits,  to  present  a  com 
plete  view  of  a  single  epoch,  the  most  interesting  in  the  Tezcu- 
can annals,  than  to  spread  the  inquiries  over  a  broader,  but  com- 
paratively barren  field.  Yet  Nezahualpilli,  the  heir  to  the  crown, 
was  a  remarkable  person,  and  his  reign  contains  many  incidents, 
which  I  regret  to  be  obliged  to  pass  over  in  silence.'* 

"*  "  SoHa  amonestar  4  sus  hijos  en  secreto  bue  no  adorasen  4  aquellas  fig- 
Hraa  cle  idolos,  y  (jue  aquello  que  hiciesen  en  publico  fuese  solo  par  mtmplimi- 
tnto."'      Ibid. 

"'^  Idem,  ubi  supra. 
'  'i':,c  i.ame  Nczahu.ilpilli  signifies  "  the  prince  for  whom  one  has  fasted," 
— in  allusion,  no  ioubt,  to  the  long  fast  of  his  father  previous  to  his  birth. 
(See  Ixtilxochiti,  ilist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  45.)  I  have  explained  the  meaning 
of  the  equally  euphonious  name  of  hit  puioni,  Xezahualcoyotl.  (Ante,  ch.  4.) 
If  it  be  true, 'that 

(..aesar  err  F.paniinond.is 
Could  ne'er  without  names  liavc  been  known  to  us," 

it  ia  no  less  certain  that  such  names  as  those  of  the  two  Tezcucan  princci,  »o 
difficult  to  be  uronounced  or  remembered  by  a  European,  arc  most  unfaYor- 

al)!e  to  immortalit',. 


ie2  AZTEC  CIVILIZATIOX. 

He  had,  ia  ?naDy  respects,  a  taste  similar  to  his  father's,  and, 
like  him,  displayed  a  profuse  magnificence  in  his  way  of  living 
and  in  his  public  edifices.  He  was  more  severe  in  his  morals  ; 
and,  in  the  execution  of  justice,  stern  even  to  the  sacrifice  of 
natural  afifection.  Several  remarkable  instances  of  this  are  told; 
one,  among  others,  in  relation  to  his  eldest  son,  the  heir  to  the 
crown,  a  prince  of  great  promise.  The  young  man  entered  into 
a  poetical  correspondence  with  one  of  his  father's  concubine:^, 
the  lady  of  Tula,  as  she  was  called,  a  woman  of  humble  origin, 
but  of  uncommon  endowments.  She  wrote  verses  with  ease,  and 
could  discuss  graver  matters  with  the  king  and  his  ministers. 
She  maintained  a  separate  establishment,  where  she  lived  in 
state,  and  acquired,  by  her  beauty  and  accomplishments,  great 
ascendancy  over  her  royal  lover.''^  With  this  favorite  the  prince 
carried  on  a  correspondence  in  verse, — whether  of  an  amorous 
nature  does  not  appear.  At  all  events,  the  offence  was  capital. 
It  was  submitted  to  the  regular  tribunal,  who  pronounced  sen- 
tence of  death  on  the  unfortunate  youth  ;  and  the  king,  steeling 
his  heart  against  all  entreaties  and  the  voice  of  nature,  suffered 
the  cruel  judgment  to  be  carried  into  execution.  We  might,  in 
this  case,  suspect  the  influence  of  baser  passions  on  his  mind, 
but  it  was  not  a  solitary  instance  of  his  inexorable  justice  towards 
those  most  near  to  him.  He  had  the  stern  virtue  of  an  anciei  t 
Roman,  destitute  of  the  softer  graces  which  make  virtue  attrac- 
tive. When  the  sentence  was  carried  into  effect,  he  shut  himself 
up  in  his  palace  for  many  weeks,  and  commanded  the  doors  and 
windows  of  his  son's  residence  to  be  walled  up,  that  it  might 
never  again  be  occupied.'® 

Nezahualpilli  resembled  his  father  in  his  passion  for  astronom- 
ical studies,  and   is  said  to  have   had  an  observatory  on  one  of 

"^  "  De  las  concubinas  la  que  mas  privo  con  el  rev,  fue'  la  que  llamaljan  la 
Senora  de  Tula,  no  por  linage,  sino  porque  era  hija  de  un  mercader,  y  era  tan 
sabia  que  competia  con  el  rey  y  con  los  mas  sabios  de  su  reyno,  y  era  en  la 
poesia  muy  aventajada,  que  con  estas  gracias  y  dones  naturales  tenia  al  rey 
muy  sugeto  a  su  voluntad  de  tal  manera  que  lo  que  queria  alcanzaba  de  el,  y 
asi  vivia  sola  por  si  con  grande  aparato  y  niagestad  en  unos  palacios  que  el 
rey  le  mando  edificar."     Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  57. 

'"''  Ibid.,  cap.  67. 

The  Tezcucan  historian  records  several  appalling  examples  of  this  severity  ; 
— one  in  particular,  in  relation  to  his  guilty  wife.  The  story,  reminding  one 
of  the  tales  of  an  Oriental  harem,  has  been  translated  for  the  Appendix,  Part 
2,  JVo.  4.  See  also  Torquemada,  (Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  cap.  66,)  and  Zurita 
(Rapport,  pp.  108,  109.)  He  was  the  terror,  in  particular,  of  all  unjust  mag- 
istrates. They  had  little  favor  to  expect  from  the  man  who  could  stifle  the 
▼oice  of  nature  in  his  own  bosom,  in  obedience  to  the  laws.  As  Suetonius 
•aid  of  a  prince  who  had  not  his  virtue,  "  Vehemens  et  in  co«rcendis  quidem 
4«lictis  immodicuB."     Vita  Galb^e,  sec.  9. 


DECLINE  OF  THE  MONARCHY. 


I  S3 


his  palaces."  He  was  devoted  to  war  in  his  youth,  but,  as  he 
advanced  in  years,  resigned  himself  to  a  more  indolent  way  of 
life,  and  sought  his  chief  amusement  in  the  pursuit  of  his  favorite 
science,  or  in  the  soft  pleasures  of  the  sequestered  gardens  of 
Tezcotzinco.  This  quiet  life  was  ill  suited  to  the  turbulent  tem- 
per of  the  times,  and  of  his  Mexican  rival,  Montezuma.  The 
distant  provinces  fell  off  from  their  allegiance  ;  the  army  relaxed 
its  discipline  ;  disaffection  crept  into  its  ranks  ;  and  the  wily 
Montezuma,  partly  by  violence,  and  partly  by  stratagems  un- 
worthy of  a  king,  succeeded  in  plundering  his  brother  monarch 
of  some  of  his  most  valuable  domains.  Then  it  was,  that  he 
arrogated  to  himself  the  title  and  supremacy  of  emperor,  hitherto 
bor'ie  by  the  Tezcucan  princes,  as  head  of  the  alliance.  Such  is 
the  account  given  by  the  historians  of  that  nation,  who,  in  this 
way,  explain  the  acknowledged  superiority  of  the  Aztec  sovereign, 
both  in  territory  and  consideration,  on  the  landing  of  the  Span- 
iards.™ 

These  misfortunes  pressed  heavily  on  the  spirits  of  Nezahual- 
pilli.  Their  effect  was  increased  by  certain  gloomy  prognostics 
of  a  near  calamity  which  was  to  overwhelm  the  countr}'.™  He 
withdrew  to  his  retreat,  to  brood  in  secret  over  his  sorrows.  His 
health  rapidly  declined ;  and  in  the  year  15 15,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
two,  he  sunk  into  the  grave  -^  happy  at  least,  that,  by  this  timely 
death,  he  escaped  witnessing  the  fulfilment  of  his  own  predictions, 
in  the  ruin  of  his  countrj^,  and  the  extinction  of  the  Indian  dyn- 
asties, forever.*' 

In  reviewing  the  brief  sketch  here  presented  of  the  Tezcucan 
monarchy,  we  are  strongly  impressed  with  the  conviction  of  its 

"^  Torquemada  saw  the  remains  of  this,  or  what  passed  for  suck,  in  his  day. 
Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  2,  cap.  64. 

'*  Ixltilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  73,  74. 

This  sudden  transfer  of  empire  from  the  fezcucans,  at  the  close  of  the  reigru 
of  two  (jf  tiieir  ablest  monarchs,  is  so  improbable,  that  one  cannot  but  doubt 
if  they  ever  possessed  it — at  least,  to  the  extent  claimed  by  the  patriotic  histo- 
rian.    .See  Ante,  Chap,  i,  note  25,  and  the  corresponding  text. 

™Ixtlilxochit].  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  72. 

The  reader  will  find  a  particular  account  of  these  prodigies,  better  authen- 
ticated than  most  miracles,  in  a  future  page  of  this  History. 

*^  Ibifl.,  cap.  75. — Or  rather  at  the  age  of  fifty,  if  the  historian  is  right,  in 
placing  his  birth,  as  he  does  in  a  ])receding  chapter,  in  1465.  (See  cap.  46.) 
It  is  not  easy  to  decide  what  is  true,  when  the  writer  does  not  take  the  trouble 
to  Imj  true  to  himself. 

*i  His  obsequies  were  celebrated  with  sanguinary  pomp.  Two  hundred 
male  and  one  hundred  female  slaves  were  sacrificed  at  his  tomb.  His  body 
was  consumed,  amidst  a  heap  of  jewels,  precious  stuffs,  and  incense,  on  a 
funeral  pile  ;  and  the  ashes,  deposited  in  a  golden  urn,  were  placed  in  the 
great  temple  of  Huitzilopotchli,  for  who.se  worship  the  king  notwithstanding 
the  lessons  of  bis  father,  bad  some  partiality.     Ibid. 


,24  AZTEC  CHROiVOLOGY. 

superiority,  in  all  the  great  features  of  civilization,  over  the  rest 
of  Anahuac.  The  Mexicans  showed  a  similar  proficiency,  no 
doubt  in  the  mechanic  arts,  and  even  in  mathematical  science. 
But  in  the  science  of  government,  in  legislation,  in  speculative 
doctrines  of  a  religious  nature,  in  the  more  elegant  pursuits  of 
poetry,  eloquence,  and  whatever  depended  on  refinement  of  taste 
and  a  polished  idiom,  they  confessed  themselves  inferior  by  re- 
sorting to  their  rivals  for  instruction,  and  citing  their  works  as 
the  masterpieces  of  their  tongue.  The  best  histories,  the  best 
poems,  the  best  code  of  laws,  the  purest  dialect,  were  all  allowed 
to  be  Tezcucan.  The  Aztecs  rivalled  their  neighbors  in  splendor 
of  living,  and  even  in  the  magnificence  of  their  structures.  They 
displayed  a  pomp  and  ostentatious  pageantry,  truly  Asiatic.  But 
this  was  the  development  of  the  material,  rather  than  the  intellect- 
ual principle.  They  wanted  the  refinement  of  manners  essential 
to  a  continued  advance  in  civilization,  An  insurmountable  limit 
was  put  to  theirs,  by  that  bloody  mythology,  which  threw  its  with- 
ering taint  over  the  very  air  that  they  breathed. 

The  superiority  of  the  Tezcucans  was  owing,  doubtless,  in  a 
great  measure,  to  that  of  the  two  sovereigns  whose  reigns  we 
have  been  depicting.  There  is  no  position,  which  affords  such 
scope  for  ameliorating  the  condition  of  man,  as  that  occupied  by 
an  absolute  ruler  over  a  nation  imperfectly  civilized.  From  his 
elevated  place,  commanding  all  the  resources  of  his  age,  it  is  in 
his  power  to  diffuse  them  far  and  wide  among  his  people.  He 
may  be  the  copious  reservoir  on  the  mountain  top,  drinking  in 
the  dews  of  heaven,  to  send  them  in  fertilizing  streams  along  the 
lower  slopes  and  valleys,  clothing  even  the  wilderness  in  beauty, 
^uch  were  Nezahualcoyotl,  and  his  illustrious  successor,  whose 
rnlightened  policy,  extending  through  nearly  a  century,  wrought 
a  most  salutary  revolution  in  the  condition  of  their  country.  It 
is  remarkable  that  we,  the  inhabitants  of  the  same  continent, 
should  be  more  familiar  with  the  history  of  many  a  barbarian 
chief,  both  in  the  Old  and  New  World,  than  with  that  of  these 
truly  great  men,  whose  names  are  identified  with  the  most  glorious 
period  in  the  annals  of  the  Indian  races. 

What  was  the  actual  amount  of  the  Tezcucan  civilization,  it  is 
not  easy  to  determine,  with  the  imperfect  light  afforded  us  It 
was  certainly  far  below  anything,  which  the  word  conveys 
measured  by  a  European  standard.  In  some  of  the  arts,  and  in 
any  walk  of  science,  they  could  only  have  made,  as  it  were,  a 
beginning.  But  they  had  begun  in  the  right  way,  and  already 
showed  a  refinement  in  sentiment  and  manners,  a  Capacity  for 
receiving  instruction,  which,  under  good  auspices,  might  have  led 
them  on  to  indefinite  improvement.     Unhappily,  they  were  fast 


TX  TLILXO  CHITL . 


15$ 


falling  under  the  dominion  of  the  warlike  Aztecs,  And  that 
people  repaid  the  benefits  received  from  their  more  polished 
neighbors  by  imparting  to  them  their  own  ferocious  superstition, 
which,  falling  like  a  mildew  on  the  land,  would  soon  have  blighted 
its  rich  blossoms  of  promise,  and  turned  even  its  fruits  to  dust 
and  ashes. 


Fernando  de  Alva  Ixtlilxochitl,\vho  flourished  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  was  a  native  of  Tezcuco,  and  descended  in  a  direct  line  from  the  sov- 
ereigns of  that  kingdom.  The  royal  posterity  became  so  numerous  in  a  few 
generations,  that  it  was  common  to  see  them  reduced  to  great  poverty,  and 
earning  a  painful  subsistence  by  the  most  humble  occupations.  Ixtlilxochiti 
who  was  descended  from  the  principal  wife  or  queen  of  Nezahualapilli,  main- 
tained a  very  resi^ectable  position,  lie  filled  the  office  of  interpreter  to  the 
viceroy,  to  which  he  was  recommended  l)y  his  acquaintance  with  the  ancient 
hieroglyphics,  and  his  knowledge  of  the  Mexican  and  Spanish  languages. 
His  birth  gave  him  access  to  persons  of  the  highest  rank  in  his  own  nation, 
some  of  whom  occupied  important  civil  posts  under  the  new  government,  and 
were  thus  enabled  to  make  large  collections  of  Indian  manuscripts,  which 
were  liberally  opened  to  him.  He  had  an  extensive  library  of  his  own,  also, 
and  with  these  means  diligently  pursued  the  study  of  the  Tezcucan  antiquities. 
He  deciphered  the  hieroglyphics,  made  himself  master  of  the  songs  and  trad- 
itions and  forfified  his  narrative  by  the  oral  testimony  of  some  very  aged  per- 
sons, who  had  themselves  been  acquainted  with  the  Conquerors,  From  such 
authentic  sources  he  composed  various  works  in  the  Castilian,  on  the  prim- 
itive history  of  tlie  Toltec  and  the  Tezcucan  races,  continuing  it  down  to  the 
subversion  of  the  empire  by  Cortes.  These  various  accounts,  compiled  under 
the  title  of  Relaaones,  are,  more  or  less,  repetitions  and  abridgements  of  each 
other ;  nor  is  it  easy  to  understand  why  they  were  thus  composed.  The  His- 
toria  Chickemeca  is  the  best  digested  and  most  complete  of  the  whole  series ; 
and  as  such  has  been  the  most  frequentJy  consulted,  for  the  preceding  pages. 

Ixtlilxochill's  writings  have  many  of  the  defects  belonging  to  his  age.  He 
often  crowds  the  page  with  incidents  of  a  trivial  and  sometimes  improbable 
character.  The  improbability  increases  with  the  distance  of  the  period;  for 
distance,  which  diminishes  objects  to  the  natural  eye,  exaggerates  them  to  the 
mental.  His  chronologv,  as  I  have  more  than  once  noticed,  is  inextricably 
entangled.  He  has  often  lent  a  too  willing  ear  to  traditions  and  reports  which 
would  startle  the  more  sceptical  criticism  of  the  present  time.  Vet  there  is 
an  appearance  of  good  faith  and  simplicity  in  his  writings,  which  may  convince 
the  reader,  that,  when  he  errs,  it  is  from  no  worse  cause  than  national  par- 
tiality. And  surely  such  partiality  is  excusable  in  the  descendant  of  a  proud 
line,  shorn  of  its  ancient  splendors,  which  it  was  soothing  to  his  own  feelings 
to  revive  again, — though  with  something  more  than  their  legitimate  lustre, — 
on  the  canvas  of  historv.  It  should  also  be  considered,  that,  if  his  narrative 
is  sometimes  startling,  his  researches  i)enetrate  into  the  mysterious  depths  of 
anticjuitv,  where  light  and  darkness  meet  and  melt  into  each  other;  and  when 
everything  is  still  further  liable  to  distortion,  as  seen  through  the  misty  me- 
'^ium  of  hieroglyphics. 

sVith  these  allowances,  it  will  be  fount!  that  the  Tezcucan  historian  has  just 
claims  to  our  admiratioti  for  the  compass  of  his  inquiries,  and  the  sagacity 
with  which  they  have  been  conducted.  He  has  introduced  us  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  mo3t  ptjlished  people  of  Anahuac,  whose  records,  if  preserved^, 
could  not,  at  a  much  later  period,  have  been  comprehended;  and  he  has  thut 


ic6  AZTEC  Crvn.IZATTON 

afforded  a  standard  of  comparison,  which  much  raises  our  ideas  of  Americai 
civilization.  His  language  is  simple,  and,  occasionally,  eloquent  and  touching. 
His  descriptions  are  highly  picturesque.  He  abounds  in  familiar  anecdote ; 
and  the  natural  graces  of  his  manner,  in  detailing  the  more  striking  events  of 
history,  and  the  personal  adventures  of  his  heroes,  entitle  him  to  the  name  of 
the  Livy  of  Anahuac. 

I  shall  be  obliged  to  enter  hereafter  into  his  literary  merits,  in  connection 
with  the  narrative  of  the  Conquest ;  for  which  he  is  a  prominent  authority. 
His  earlier  annals — though  no  one  of  his  manuscripts  has  been  printed — have 
been  diligently  studied  by  the  Spanish  writers  in  Mexico  and  liberally  trans- 
ferred to  their  pages;  and  his  reputation,  like  Sahagun's,  has  doubtless  suf- 
fered by  the  process.  His  Historia  Chichemeca  is  now  turned  into  French  by 
M.  Ternaux-Compans,  forming  part  of  that  inestimable  series  of  translations 
from  unpublished  documents,  which  have  so  much  enlarged  our  acquaintance 
with  the  early  American  history.  I  have  had  ample  opportunity  of  proving 
the  merits  of  his  version  of  Ixtlilxochitl;  and  am  happy  to  bear  my  testimony 
to  the  fidelity  and  elegance  with  which  it  is  executed. 


Note.  It  was  my  intention  to  conclude  this  Introductory  portion  of  the 
work  with  an  inquiry  into  the  Origin  of  the  Mixican  Civilization.  "  But  the 
general  question  of  the  origin  of  the  inhabitants  of  a  continent,"  says  Hum- 
doldt,  "is  beyond  the  limits  prescribed  to  history;  perhaps  it  is  not  even  a 
philosophic  uestion."  For  tlie  majority  of  readers,"  says  Livy,  "the  origin 
and  remote  antiquities  of  a  nation  can  have  comparatively  little  interest." 
The  criticism  of  these  great  writers  is  just  and  pertinent;  and,  on  further  con- 
sideration, I  have  thrown  the  observations  on  this  topic,  prepared  with  some 
care,  into  the  Appendix  Part  iv);  to  which  those,  who  feel  sufl5cient  curiosity 
in  tba  diacuMior,  can  turn  before  entering  on  the  narrative  of  the  Conquest 


BOOK   SECOND.. 

HSCOVERY    or    MEXICO 


BOOK   11. 


DISCOVERY   OK  MEXICO. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Spain  under   Charles  V. — Progress  of   Discovery. — Colo 

NiAL  Policy. — Conquest  of  Cuba. — Expeditions 

TO  Yucatan. 

1516— 1518. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  Spain  occupied 
perhaps  the  most  prominent  position  on  the  theatre  of  Europe. 
The  numerous  states,  into  which  she  had  been  so  long  divided, 
were  consoUdated  into  one  monarchy.  The  Moslem  crescent, 
after  reigning  there  for  eight  centuries,  was  no  longer  seen  on 
her  borders.  The  authority  of  the  crown  did  not,  as  in  later 
times,  overshadow  the  inferior  orders  of  the  state.  The  people 
enjoyed  the  inestimable  privilege  of  political  representation,  and 
exercised  it  with  manly  independence.  The  nation  at  large 
could  boast  as  great  a  degree  of  constitutional  freedom,  as  any 
other,  at  that  time,  in  Christendom.  Under  a  system  of  salutary 
Jaws  and  an  equitable  administration,  domestic  tranquility  was 
secured,  public  credit  established,  trade,  manufactures,  and  even 
the  more  elegant  arts,  began  to  flourish;  while  a  higher  educa- 
tion called  forth  the  first  blossoms  of  that  literature,  which  was 
to  ripen  into  so  rich  a  harvest  before  the  close  of  the  century. 
Arms  abroad  kept  pace  with  arts  at  home.  Spain  found  her 
empire  suddenly  enlarged  by  important  acquisitions  both  in 
Europe  and  Africa,  while  a  New  World  beyond  the  waters 
poured  into  her  lap  treasures  of  countless  wealth,  and  opened 
an  unbounded  field  for  honorable  enterprise. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  kingdom  at  the  close  of  the 
long  and  glorious  reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  when,  on  the 
t3d  of  January,  1516,  the  sceptre  passed  into  the  hands  of  their 
daughter  Joanna,  or  rather  their  grandson,  Charles  the  Fiftii, 
who  alone  ruled  the  monarchy  during  the  long  and  imbecile  em- 


1 60  DISCO  VBR  Y  OF  MEXICO. 

\stence  of  his  unfortunate  mother.     During  the  two  years  folIo"w>. 

ing  Ferdinand's  death,  the  regency,  in  the  absence  of  Charlea. 
•/as  held  by  Cardinal  Ximenes,  a  man  whose  intrepidity,  extraor- 
dinary talents,  and  capacity  for  great  enterprises  were  accom- 
panied by  a  haughty  spirit,  which  made  him  too  indifferent  as  to 
the  means  of  their  execution.  His  admmistration,  therefore, 
notwithstanding  the  uprightness  of  his  intentions,  was,  from  his 
total  disregard  of  forms,  unfavorable  to  constitutional  liberty ; 
for  respect  for  forms  is  an  essential  element  of  freedom.  With 
all  his  faults,  however,  Ximenes  was  a  Spaniard  ,  and  the  object 
he  had  at  heart  was  the  good  of  his  country. 

It  was  otherwise  on  the  arrival  of  Charles,  who,  after  a  long 
absence,  came  as  a  foreigner  into  the  land  of  his  fathers  (No- 
vember, 15 1 7.)  His  manners,  sympathies,  even  his  language, 
were  foreign,  for  he  spoke  the  Castilian  with  difficulty.  He 
knew  little  of  his  native  country,  of  the  character  of  the  people 
or  their  institutions.  He  seemed  to  care  still  less  for  them  , 
while  his  natural  reserve  precluded  that  freedom  of  communica- 
tion, which  might  have  counteracted,  to  some  extent,  at  least, 
the  errors  of  education.  In  everything,  in  short,  he  was  a  for- 
eigner, and  resigned  himself  to  tlie  direction  of  his  Flemish 
counsellors  wi:h  a  docility  that  gave  little  augury  of  his  future 
greatness. 

On  his  entrance  into  Castile,  the  young  monarch  was  accom« 
panied  by  a  swarm  of  courtly  sycophants,  who  settled,  like  lo- 
custs, on  every  place  of  profit  and  honor  throughout  the  king« 
dom.  A  Fleming  was  made  grand  chancellor  of  Castile  •  an- 
other Fleming  was  placed  in  the  archiepiscopal  see  of  Toledo, 
They  even  ventured  to  profane  the  sanctity  of  the  cortes,  by  in- 
truding themselves  on  its  deliberations.  Yet  that  body  did  not 
tamely  submit  to  these  usurpations,  but  gave  vent  to  its  indigna' 
tion  in  tones  becoming  the  representatives  of  a  free  people.^ 

The  deportment  of  Charles,  so  different  from  that  to  which 
the  Spaniards  had  been  accustomed  under  the  benign  adminis- 

1  The  following  passage — one  among  many — from  that  faithful  mirror  of 
the  times,  Peter  Martvr's  conespondence,  does  ample  justice  to  the  intern- 
perance,  avarice,  and  intolerable  arrogance  of  the  Flemings.  The  testimony 
IS  worth  the  more,  as  coming  from  one  who,  though  resident  in  Spain,  was 
not  a  Spaniard.  "  Crumenas  auro  fulrire  inhiant;  huic  uni  studio  invigilant. 
Nee  detrectat  juvenis  Rex.  Farcit  quacunque  posse  datur;  non  satiattameo. 
Quae  qualisve  sit  gens  hasc,  depingere  adliuc  nescio.  Insutiiat  vulgus  hie  in 
omne  genus  hom.inum  non  arctoum.  Minores  faciunt  Hispanos,  quam  si  nati 
essent  inter  eorum  cloacas.  Rugiunt  jam  Hispani,  labra  mordent,  submur- 
murant  taciti,  fatorum  vices  tales  esse  conqueruntur,  quod  ipsi  domitores 
regnorum  ita  fioccifiant  ab  his,  quorum  Deus  unicus  (sub  rege  temperate) 
Bacchus  est  cum  Citherea."  Opus  Epistolarum,  (Amstelodami,  1610,) 
op.  608. 


SPAIN  UNDER  CHARLES  V.  i6| 

tration  of  Ferdins>n.i  and  Isabella,  closed  all  hearts  against  him; 
and,  as  his  character  came  to  be  understood,  instead  of  the 
spontaneous  outpourings  of  loyalty,  which  usually  greet  the  ac- 
cession of  a  new  and  youthful  sovereign,  he  was  everywhere  en- 
countered by  opposition  and  disgust.  In  Castile,  and  after 
wards  in  Aragon,  Catalonia,  and  Valencia,  the  commons  hesi- 
tated to  confer  on  him  the  title  of  King  during  the  lifetime  of 
his  mother  .  and,  though  they  eventually  yielded  this  point,  and 
associated  his  name  with  hers  in  the  bovereignty,  yet  they  re- 
luctantly granted  the  supplies  he  demanded,  and,  when  they  did 
so,  watched  over  their  appropriation  with  a  vigilance  which  lefs 
little  to  gratify  the  cupidity  of  the  Flemings.  The  language  of 
the  legislature  on  these  occasions,  though  temperate  and  re- 
spectful, breathes  a  spirit  of  resolute  independence  not  to  be 
found,  probably,  on  the  parliamentary  records  of  any  other  na- 
tion at  that  period.  No  wonder  that  Charles  should  have  early 
imbibed  a  disgust  for  these  popular  assemblies, — the  only  bodies 
whence  truths  so  unpalatable  could  find  their  way  to  the  ears  of 
the  sovereign!'^  Unfortunately,  they  had  no  influence  on  his 
conduct;  till  the  discontent,  long  allowed  to  fester  in  secret, 
broke  out  into  that  sad  war  of  the  coniunidaaes,  which  shook 
the  state  to  its  foundations,  and  ended  in  the  subversion  of  its 
liberties. 

The  same  pestilent  foreign  influence  was  felt,  though  much 
less  sensibly,  in  the  Colonial  administration.  This  had  been 
placed,  in  the  preceding  reign,  under  the  immediate  charge  of 
the  two  great  tribunals,  the  Council  of  the  Indies,  and  the  Casa 
de  Coniratacion,  or  India  House,  at  Seville.  It  was  their  busi- 
ness to  further  the  progress  of  discovery,  watch  over  the  infant 
settlements,  and  adjust  the  disputes  which  grew  up  in  them. 
But  the  licenses  granted  to  private  adventurers  did  more  for  the 
cause  of  discovery,  than  the  patronage  of  the  crown  or  its  offi- 
cers. The  long  peace,  enjoyed  with  slight  interruption  by 
Spain  in  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  was  most  au- 
spicious for  this;  and  the  restless  cavalier,  who  could  no  longer 
win  laurels  on  the  fields  of  Africa  or  Europe,  turned  with  eager- 
ness to  the  brilliant  career  opened  to  hvm  uevond  the  ocean. 

It  is  difficult  for  those  of  our  time,  as  familiar  from  childhood 
with  the  most  remote  places  on  the  globe  as  with  those  in  their 

'  Yet,  the  nobles  were  not  all  backward  in  manifesting  their  disgust. 
When  Charles  would  have  conferred  the  famous  Burgtindian  order  of  the 
Golden  Fleece  on  the  Conn;  of  I?enavente,  that  lord  refused  it,  proudly  tell- 
ing him,  "  1  am  a  Castilian.  I  desire  no  honors  but  those  of  my  own  country, 
in  my  opinion,  quite  as  good  as — indeed,  better  than  those  of  any  othei-. 
Sandoval,  Historia  de  la  Vida  y  Hechos  del  Emperador  Cirlos  v.,  (Anv 
b^rw,  i6Si,)  torn.  I.  p.  lo^ 


(63  DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO. 

own  neighborhood,  to  picture  to  themselves  the  feelings  of  the 
men  who  lived  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  dread  mystery, 
which  had  so  long  hung  over  the  great  deep,  had,  indeed,  been 
removed.  It  was  no  longer  beset  with  the  same  undefined  hor- 
rors as  when  Columbus  launched  his  bold  bark  on  its  dark  and 
unknown  waters.  A  new  and  glorious  world  had  been  thrown 
open.  But  as  to  the  precise  spot  where  that  world  lay,  its  ex- 
tent, its  history,  whether  it  were  island  or  continent, — of  all  this, 
they  had  very  vague  and  confused  conceptions.  Many,  in  their 
ignorance,  blindly  adopted  the  erroneous  conclusion  into  which 
the  great  Admiral  had  been  led  by  his  superior  science, — that 
the  new  countries  were  a  part  of  Asia  ;  and,  as  the  mariner  wan- 
dered among  the  Bahamas,  or  steered  his  caravel  across  the 
Caribbean  seas,  he  fancied  he  was  inhaling  the  rich  odors  of  the 
spice-islands  in  the  Indian  Ocean.  Thus  every  fresh  discovery, 
interpreted  by  this  previous  delusion,  served  to  confirm  him  in 
his  error,  or,  at  least,  to  fill  his  mind  with  new  perplexities. 

The  career  thus  thrown  open  had  all  the  fascinations  of  a 
desperate  hazard,  on  which  the  adventurer  'taked  all  his  hopes 
of  fortune,  fame,  and  life  itself.  It  was  not  often,  indeed,  that 
he  won  the  rich  prize  which  he  most  coveted  ;  but  then  he  was 
sure  to  win  ihe  meed  of  glory,  scarcely  less  dear  to  his  chivalrous 
spirit  ;  and,  if  he  survived  to  return  to  his  home,  he  had  won- 
derful  stories  to  recount,  of  perilous  chances  among  the  strange 
people  he  had  visited,  and  the  burning  climes,  whose  rank  fer- 
tility and  magnificence  of  vegetation  so  far  surpassed  anything 
he  had  witnessed  in  his  own.  These  reports  added  fresh  fuel 
to  imaginations  already  warmed  by  the  study  of  those  tales  of 
chivalry  which  formed  the  favorite  reading  of  the  Spaniards,  at 
that  period.  Thus  romance  and  reality  acted  on  each  other,  and 
the  soul  of  the  Spaniard  was  exalted  to  that  pitch  of  enthusiasm, 
which  enabled  him  to  encounter  the  terrible  trials  that  lay  in  the 
path  of  the  discovery.  Indeed,  the  life  of  the  cavalier  of  that 
day  was  romance  put  into  action.  The  story  of  his  adventures 
in  the  New  World  forms  one  of  the  most  remarkable  pages  in 
the  history  of  man. 

Under  this  chivalrous  spirit  of  enterprise,  the  progress  of  dis- 
covery had  extended,  by  the  beginning  of  Charles  the  Fifth's 
reign,  from  the  bay  of  Honduras,  along  the  winding  shores  of 
Darien,  and  the  South  American  continent,  to  the  Rio  de  la 
Plata.  The  mighty  barrier  of  the  Isthmus  had  been  climbed, 
end  the  Pacific  descried,  by  Nufiez  de  Balboa,  second  only  to 
Columbus  in  this  valiant  band  of  "  ocean  chivalry."  The  Ba- 
hamas and  Caribbee  Islands  had  been  explored,  as  well  as  the 
Peninsula  of  Florida  on  the  northern  continent.     To  this  latter 


PROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY.  163 

point  Sebastian  Cabot  had  arrived  in  his  descent  along  the  coast 
from  Labrador,  in  1497.  So  that  before  1518,  the  period  when 
our  narrative  begins,  the  eastern  borders  of  both  the  great  con- 
tinents had  been  surveyed  through  nearly  their  whole  extent. 
The  shores  of  the  great  Mexican  Gulf,  however,  sweeping  with  a 
wide  circuit  far  into  the  interior,  remained  still  concealed,  with 
the  rich  realms  that  lay  beyond,  from  the  eye  of  the  navigatoi. 
The  time  has  now  come  for  their  discovery. 

The  business  of  colonization  had  kept  pace  with  that  of  dis- 
covery. In  several  of  the  islands,  and  in  various  parts  of  Terra 
Firma,  and  in  Darien,  settlements  had  been  established,  under 
the  control  of  governors  who  afifected  the  state  and  authority  of 
viceroys.  Grants  of  land  were  assigned  to  the  colonists,  on 
which  they  raised  the  natural  products  of  the' soil,  but  gave  still 
more  attention  to  the  sugar-cane,  imported  from  the  Canaries. 
Sugar,  indeed,  together  with  the  beautiful  dye-woods  of  the 
country  and  the  precious  metals,  formed  almost  the  only  articles 
of  export  in  the  infancy  of  the  colonies,  which  had  not  yet  in- 
troduced those  other  staples  of  the  West  Indian  commerce, 
which,  in  our  day,  constitute  its  principal  w-ealth.  Yet  the 
precious  metals,  painfully  gleaned  from  a  few  scanty  sources, 
would  have  made  poor  returns,  but  for  the  gratuitous  labor  of 
the  Indians. 

The  cruel  svstem  of  repartitnientos,  or  distnbuiion  oi"  the  In- 
dians as  slaves  among  the  conquerors,  had  been  suppressed  by 
Isabella.  Although  subsequently  countenanced  by  the  govern- 
ment, it  was  under  the  most  careful  limitations.  But  it  is  impos- 
sible to  license  crime  by  halves, — to  authorize  injustice  at  all, 
and  hope  to  regulate  the  measure  of  it.  The  eloquent  remon- 
strances of  the  Dominicans, — who  devoted  themselves  to  the 
good  work  of  conversion  in  the  New  World  with  the  same  zeal 
that  they  showed  for  persecution  in  the  Old, — but,  above  all, 
those  of  Las  Casas,  induced  the  regent,  Ximenes,  to  send  out  a 
commission  with  full  powers  to  inquire  into  the  alleged  grievan- 
ces, and  to  redress  them.  It  had  authority,  moreover,  to  inves- 
tigate the  conduct  of  the  civil  ofncers,  and  to  reform  any  abuses 
in  their  administration.  This  exiraordinarv  commissioi.  consist- 
ed of  three  Hieronyniite  friars  and  an  eminent  jurist,  >iii  men  of 
learning  and  unblemished  piety. 

They  conducted  the  inquirv  in  a  very  dispassionate  manner  ; 
but,  after  long  deliberation,  came  to  a  conclusion  most  unfavor- 
able to  the  demands  of  Las  Casas,  who  insisted  on  the  entire 
freedom  of  the  natives.  This  conclusion  they  justified  on  the 
grr.unds  that  the  Indians  would  not  labor  without  compulsion, 
and  that,   unless  they  labored,  they  cor.Id  not  be   brought   into 


,6^  DISCO  VEK  Y  OF  MEXICO. 

communication  with  tlie  whites,  nor  be  converted  to  ChristUn. 
ity.  Whatever  we  may  think  of  this  argument,  it  was  doubtless 
urged  with  sincerity  by  its  advocates,  whose  conduct  through 
their  whole  administration  places  their  motives  above  suspicion. 
They  accompanied  it  with  many  careful  provisions  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  natives.  But  in  vain.  The  simple  people,  accus- 
tomed all  their  days  to  a  life  of  indolence  and  ease,  sunk  under 
the  oppressions  of  their  masters,  and  the  population  wasted 
away  with  even  more  frightful  rapidity  than  did  the  Aborigines 
in  our  own  country,  under  the  operation  of  other  causes.  It  is 
not  necessary  to  pursue  these  details  further,  into  which  I  have 
been  led  by  the  desire  to  put  the  reader  in  possession  of  the 
general  policy  and  state  of  affairs  in  the  New  World,  at  the 
period  when  the  present  narrative  begins.^ 

Of  the  islands,  Cuba  was  the  second  discovered  ;  but  no  at- 
tempt had  been  made  to  plant  a  colony  there  during  the  lifetime 
of  Columbus ;  who,  indeed,  after  skirting  the  whole  extent  of  its 
southern  coast,  died  in  the  conviction  that  it  was  part  of  the  con- 
tinent.* At  length,  in  1511,  Diego  the  son  and  successor  of 
the  ■'  Admiral,"  who  still  maintained  the  seat  of  the  government 
in  Hispaniola,  finding  the  mines  much  exhausted  there,  propos- 
ed 10  occupy  the  neighboring  island  of  Cuba,  or  Fernandina,  as 
it  was  called,  in  compliment  to  the  Spanish  monarch.*  He 
prepared  a  small  force  for  the  conquest,  which  he  placed  under 
the  command  of  Don  Diego  Velasquez  ;  a  man  described  by  a 
contemporary,  as  '*  possessed  of  considerable  experience  in  mil- 
itary affairs,  having  served  seventeen  years  in  the  European 
wars;  as  honest,  illustrious  by  his  lineage  and  reputation,  covet- 
ous of  glory  and  somewhat  more  covetous  of  wealth."  «  The  por- 
trait sketched  by  no  unfriendly  hand. 

Valasquez,  or  rather,  his  lieutenant,  Narvaez,  who  tooK  the  of- 

^  T  will  take  the  liberty  to  refer  the  reader,  who  is  desirous  of  being  more 
minutely  acquainted  with  the  Spanisii  colonial  administration  and  the  state 
of  discovery  jjrevious  to  Charles  \' .,  to  the  "  Mistory  of  the  Reign  of  Ferdi- 
nand and  Isabella,"'  (Part  2,  ch.  9,  26.)  where  the  subject  is  treated  in 
extenso. 

*  See  the  curious  document  attesting  this,  and  drawn  up  bv  order  of 
Columbus,  ap.  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  los  Viages  y  de  Descubrimientos, 
(Madrid,  1825,)  torn.  II.  Col.  Dip.,  No.  76. 

'"  The  island  was  originally  called  by  Columbus,  Juana,  in  honor  of  prince 
John,  heir  to  the  Castilian  crown.  After  his  death  it  received  the  name  of 
Fernandina,  at  the  king's  desire.  The  Indian  name  has  survived  both.  Her- 
rera,  Hist.  General,  Descrip.,  cap.  6. 

'^  ■■  Erat  Didacus,  ut  hoc  in  loco  de  eo  semel  tantum  dicamus,  veteranus 
miles,  rei  militaris  gnarus,  cjuippe  qui  septem  et  decern  aimos  in  Hispania 
militiara  exercitus  fuerat,  homo  probus,  opibus  genere  et  fama  clarus,  honoris 
cupidus,  pecuniae  aliquanto  cupidior."  De  Rebus  Gestis  Ferdinandi  Corteaii, 
MS, 


PROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY.  i^J 

ft<e  on  himself  of  scouring  the  country,  met  with  no  serious  op. 

position  from  the  inhabitants,  who  were  of  the  same  family  with 
the  eifeminate  natives  of  Hispaniola.  The  conquest,  through 
the  merciful  interposition  of  Las  Casas,  "  the  protector  of  the  In- 
dians," who  accompanied  the  army  in  its  march,  was  affected 
without  much  bloodshed.  One  chief,  indeed,  named  Hatuey, 
having  fled  originally  from  St.  Domingo  to  escape  the  oppres- 
sion of  its  invaders,  made  a  desperate  resistance,  for  which  he 
was  condemned  by  Velasquez  to  be  burned  alive.  It  was  he, 
who  made  that  memorable  reply,  more  eloquent  than  a  volume 
of  invective.  When  urged  at  the  stake  to  embrace  Christianity, 
that  his  soul  might  find  admission  into  heaven,  he  inquired  if  the 
white  men  would  go  there.  On  being  answered  in  the  affirma- 
tive, he  exclaimed,  "  Then  I  will  not  be  a  Christian  ;  for  I  would 
not  go  again  to  a  place  where  1  must  find  men  so  cruel !  "  ' 

Atier  the  conquest,  Velasquez,  now  appointed  governor,  dil- 
igently occupied  himself  with  measures  for  promoting  the  pros- 
perity of  the  Island.  He  formed  a  number  of  settlements,  bear- 
ing the  same  names  with  the  modern  towns,  and  made  St.  Jago, 
on  the  south-east  corner,  the  seat  of  governnicnt.8 

He  invited  settlers  by  liberal  grants  of  land  and  slaves.  He  en- 
couraged them  to  cultivate  the  soil,  and  gave  particular  attention 
to  the  sugar-cane,  so  profitable  an  article  of  commerce  in  later 
times.  He  was,  above  all,  intent  on  working  the  gold  mines, 
which  promised  beiter  returns  than  those  in  Hispaniola.  The 
affairs  of  his  government  did  not  prevent  him.  meanwhile,  from 
casting  many  a  wistful  glance  at  the  discoveries  going  forward 
on  the  continent,  and  he  longed  for  an  opportunity  to  embark  in 
these  golden  adventures  himself.  Fortune  favored  him  the  occa- 
sion he  desired. 

An  hidalgo  of  Cuba,  named  Hernandez  de  Cordova,  sailed 
wiili  three  vessels  on  an  expedition  to  one  of  the  neighboring  Ba- 
hama Islands,  in  quest  of  Indian  slaves.  (February  8,  1517.) 
He  encountered  a  succession  of  heavy  gales  which  drove  him 
far  out  of  his  course,  and  at  the  end  of  three  weeks  he  found 
himself  on  a  strange  and  unknown  coast.  On  landing  and  ask- 
ing the  name  of  the  country,  he  was  answered  by  ihc  natives, 
"  Teitetan^"  meaning  "  I  do  not  understand  you," — but  which  the 

'  The  story  is  told  by  Las  Casas  in  his  appalling  record  of  ttie  cruelties  of 
of  his  countrymen  in  the  New  World,  which  charity — and  common  sense — 
may  excuse  us  for  belicvinsr  the  good  taiher  has  greatly  overcharged.  Bre- 
▼issima  Relacion  de  la  Destruycion  de  las  Indias,  (Venetia,  16/,^  )  p.  28. 

'^  Among  the  most  ancient  of  thtsi;  establishments  we  fiivi  the  Havana, 
Puerto  del  Principe,  Triniriad,  St.  S.iivador,  Matanzas,  or  the  Shtut^/iter,  so 
called  from  a  massacra  ot  the  .Span-iards  there  by  the  Indians.  Bernal  Uia£» 
Hist,  de  la  Conqui-tu,  <,a]j.  8. 


S66  DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO. 

Spaniards,  misinterpreting  into  the  name  of  the  place,  easily  cor. 
rupted  into  Yucatan.  Some  writers  give  a  different  etymology.* 
Such  mistakes,  however,  were  not  uncommon  with  the  early  dis- 
coverers, and  have  been  the  origin  of  many  a  name  on  the  Amer- 
ican continent.  ^^ 

Cordova  had  landed  on  the  north-eastern  end  of  the  peninsula, 
at  cape  Catoche.  He  was  astonished  at  the  size  and  solid 
materials  of  the  buildings  constructed  of  stone  and  lime,  so  dif- 
ferent from  the  frail  tenements  of  reeds  and  rushes  which  formed 
the  habitations  of  the  islanders,  fie  was  struck,  also  with  the 
higher  cultivation  of  the  soil,  and  with  the  delicate  texture  of  the 
cotton  garments  and  gold  ornaments  of  the  natives.  Every  thing 
indicated  a  civilization  far  superior  to  any  thing  he  had  before 
witnessed  in  the  New  World.  He  saw  the  evidence  of  a  different 
race,  moreover,  in  the  warlike  spirit  of  the  people.  Rumors  of 
the  Spaniards  had  perhaps,  preceded  them,  as  they  were  re- 
peatedly asked  if  they  came  from  the  east  ;  and,  wherever  they 
landed,  they  were  met  with  the  most  deadly  hostility.  Cordova 
himself,  in  one  of  his  skirmishes  with  the  Indians,  received  more 
than  a  dozen  wounds,  and  one  only  of  his  party  escaped  unhurt. 
At  length,  when  he  had  coasted  the  peninsula  as  far  as  Cam- 
peachy,  he  returned  to  Cuba,  which  he  reached  after  an  absence 
of  several  months,  having  suffered  all  the  extremities  of  ill.  which 
these  pioneers  of  the  ocean  were  sometimes  called  to  endure, 
and  which  none  but  the  most  courageous  spirit  could  have  sur- 
vived. As  it  was,  half  the  original  number,  consisting  of  one 
hundred  and  ten  men,  perished,  including  their  brave  commander, 
who  died  soon  after  his  return.  The  reports  he  had  brought 
back  of  the  country,  and,  still  more,  the  specimens  of  curiously 
wrought  gold,  convinced  Velasquez  of  the  importance  of  this 
discovery,  and  he  prepared  with  all  despatch  to  avail  himself 
of  it.i^ 

He  accordingly  fitted  out  a  little  squadron  of  four  vessels  for 
the   newly  discovered  lands,  and  placed  it  under  the  command 

•  Gormara,  Historia  de  las  Indias,  cap.  52,  ap  Barcia,  torn.  II. 

Bernal  Diaz  says  the  word  came  from  the  vegetable  ywira  and  tale  the  name 
for  a  hillock  in  which  it  is  planted.  (Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  6.;  M. 
Waldeck  finds  a  much  more  plausible  derivation  in  the  Indian  word  Ouvou.k' 
tian,  "  listen  to  what  they  say."     Voyage  Pittoresque,  p.  25. 

^"  Two  navigators,  Solis  and  Pinzon,  had  described  the  coast  as  far  back 
a'^  f  5d6,  according  to  Herrera,  though  they  had  not  taken  possession  of  it. 
(Hist.  Oeneral.  dec.  i,  lib.  6.  cap.  17.)  It  is  indeed  remarkable  it  should  so 
long  have  eluded  discovery,  considering  that  it  is  but  two  degrees  distant 
from  Cuba. 

^  (^viedo,  General  y  Natural  Historia  de  las  Indias,  MS  ,  lib.  33,  cap.  r.— 
De  Rebus  Gestis,  MS.— Carta  del  Cabildo  de  Vera  Cruz,  (July  10,  1519,! 
MS. 


PROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY.  igy 

of  his  nephew,  Juan  de  Grijalva,  a  man  on  whose  probity,  pru- 
dence, and  attachment  to  himself  he  knew  he  could  rely.  The 
fleet  left  the  port  of  St.  Jago  de  Cuba,  May  i,  1518.^  It  took 
the  course  pursued  by  Cordova,  but  was  driven  somewhat  to  the 
south,  the  first  land  that  it  made  being  the  island  of  Cozumel. 
From  this  quarter  Grijalva  soon  passed  over  to  the  continent 
and  coasted  the  peninsula,  touching  at  the  same  places  as  hia 
predecessor.  Everywhere  he  was  struck,  like  him,  with  the 
evidence  of  a  higher  civilization,  especially  in  the  architecture  ; 
as  he  well  might  be,  since  this  was  the  region  of  those  extraordi- 
nary remains  which  have  become  recently  the  subject  of  so  much 
speculation.  He  was  astonished,  also  at  the  sight  of  large  stone 
crosses,  evidently  objects  of  worship,  which  he  met  with  in  vari- 
ous places.  Reminded  by  these  circumstances  of  his  own  coun- 
try, he  gave  the  peninsula  the  name  of  "  New  Spain,"  a  name 
since  appropriated  to  a  much  wider  extent  of  territory. '^ 

Wherever  Grijalva  landed,  he  experienced  the  same  unfriendly 
reception  as  Cordova,  though  he  suffered  less,  being  better  pre- 
pared to  meet  it.  In  the  Rio  de  Tabasco,  or  Grijalva,  as  it  is 
often  called,  after  him,  he  held  an  amicable  conference  with  a 
chief  who  gave  him  a  number  of  gold  plates  fashioned  into  a 
sort  of  armor.  As  he  wound  round  the  Mexican  coast,  one  of 
his  captains,  Pedro  de  Alvarado,  afterwards  famous  in  the  Con- 
quest, entered  a  river,  to  which  he,  also,  left  his  own  name.  In 
a  neighboring  stream,  called  the  Rio  de  Vanderas,  or  *'  Rivei 
of  Banners,"  from  the  ensigns  displayed  by  the  natives  on  its 
borders,  Grijalva  had  the  first  communication  with  the  Mexicans 
themselves. 

The  cacique  who  ruled  over  this  province  had  received  notice 
of  the  approach  of  the  Europeans,  and  of  their  extraordinary 
appearance.  He  was  anxious  to  collect  all  the  information  he 
could  respecting  them  and  the  motives  of  their  visit,  that  he 
might    transmit  them  to  his  master,  the    Aztec    emperor.'^    A 

Bernal  Diaz  denies  that  the  original  object  of  the  expedition,  in  which  he 
took  part,  was  to  procure  slaves,  tliough  Valasquez  had  pri)posed  it.  (Hist. 
de  la  Conqaista,  cap.  2.)  Rut  he  is  contradicted  in  this  by  the  other  contctn- 
porary  records  above  cited. 

^^  Itinerario  de  la  isola  de  luchathan,  novaniente  ritrovata  per  il  signor 
Joan  de  Grijalva,  per  il  suo  capellano,  MS. 

The  chaplain's  word  may  be  taken  for  the  date,  which  is  usually  put  at  tlie 
eighth  of  April. 

^  De  Rubus  Gestis,  MS. — Itinerario  del  Capellano,  MS. 

^*  According  to  the  .Spanish  authorities,  the  cacic|ue  was  sent  with  these 
presents  from  the  Mexican  sovereign,  who  had  received  previous  tidings  o" 
the  approach  of  the  Spaniards.  I  have  followed  Sahagun,  who  obtained  iii^ 
intelligence  directly  from  the  natives.  Historia  de  la  Conquista,  MS., 
««p.  2. 


,  68  DISCO  VER  Y  OF  MEXICO, 

friendly  conference  took  place  between  the  parties  on  shores, 
where  Grijalva  landed  with  all  his  force,  so  as  to  make  a  suitable 
impression  on  the  mind  of  the  barbaric  chief.  The  interview 
lasted  some  hours,  though,  as  there  was  no  one  on  either  side 
to  interpret  the  language  of  the  other,  they  could  communicate 
only  by  signs.  They,  however,  interchanged  presents,  and  the 
Spaniards  had  the  satisfaction  of  receiving,  for  a  few  worthless 
toys  and  irinkets,  a  rich  treasure  of  jewels,  gold  ornaments  and 
vessels,  of  the  most  fantastic  forms  and  workmanship.^" 

Grijalva  now  thought  that  in  this  successful  traffic — success- 
ful beyond  his  most  sanguine  expectations  —  he  had  accom- 
plished the  chief  object  of  his  mission.  He  steadily  refused  the 
solicitations  of  his  followers  to  plant  a  colony  on  the  spot,— ^-a 
work  of  no  little  difficulty  in  so  populous  and  powerful  a  country 
as  this  appeared  to  be.  To  this,  indeed,  he  was  inclined,  but 
deemed  it  contrary  to  his  instructions,  which  limited  him  to 
barter  with  the  natives.  He  therefore  despatched  Alvarado  in 
one  of  the  caravels  back  to  Cuba,  with  the  treasure  and  such 
intelligence  as  he  had  gleaned  of  the  great  empire  in  the  mterior, 
and  then  pursued  his  voyage  along  the  coast. 

He  touched  at  San  Juan  de  Ulua,  and  at  the  Isla  de  los  Sacri- 
fidos,  so  called  by  him  from  the  bloody  remains  of  human  victims 
found  in  one  of  the  temples.  He  then  held  on  his  course  as  far 
as  the  province  of  Panuco,  where  finding  some  difficulty  m 
doubting  a  boisterous  headland,  he  returned  on  his  track,  and, 
after  an  absence  of  nearly  six  months,  reached  Cuba  in  safety. 
Grijalva  has  the  glory  of  being  the  first  navigator  who  set  foot 
on  the  Mexican  soil,  and  opened  an  intercourse  with  the  Aztecs." 

On  reaching  the  island,  he  was  surprised  to  learn,  that  another 
and  iuore  formidable  armament  had  been  fitted  out  to  follow  up 
his  own  discoveries,  and  to  find  orders,  at  the  same  time,  from 
the  governor,  couched  in  no  very  courteous  language,  to  repair 
at  once  to  St.  Jago.  He  was  received  by  that  personage,  not 
merely  with  coldness,  but  with  reproaches  for  having  neglected 
so  fair  an  opportunity  of  establishing  a  colony  in  the  counttT  he 
had  visited.  Velasquez  was  one  of  those  captious  spirits,  who, 
when  things  do  not  go  exactly  to  their  minds,  are  sure  to  shift 
the  responsibility  of  the  failure  from  their  own  shoulders,  where 
it  should  lie,  to  those  of  others.     He  had  an  ungenerous  nature 

^'  Gomara  has  given  the  per  contra  of  this  negotation,  in  which  gold  and 
jewels,  of  the  value  of  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand /t.f£>j  de  oro,  were  exchanged 
for  plass  beads,  pins,  scissors,  and  other  trinkets  common  in  an  assorted 
cargo  for  savages.     Cronica,  cap.  6. 

^*Itinerario  del  Capellano,  MS. — Carta  de  Vera  Cruz,  MS. 


EXPEDITION  TO   YL'CATAX.  169 

says  an  old  writer,  and  credulous,  easily  moved  to  suspicion." 
In  the  present  instance  ii  was  most  unmerited.  Grijalva,  natu- 
rally a  modest,  unassuming  person,  had  acted  in  obedience  to 
the  instructions  of  his  commander,  given  before  sailing  ;  and 
had  done  this  in  opposition  to  his  own  judgment  and  the  impor- 
tunities of  his  followers.  His  conduct  merited  anything  but 
censure  from  his  employer/*' 

When  Alvarado  had  returned  to  Cuba  with  his  golden  freight, 
and  the  accounts  of  the  rich  empire  of  Mexico  which  he  had 
gathered  from  the  natives,  the  heart  of  the  governor  swelled  with 
rapture  as  he  saw  his  dreams  of  avarice  and  ambition  so  likely 
to  be  realized.  Impatient  of  the  long  absence  of  Grijalva,  he 
despatched  a  vessel  in  search  of  him  under  the  command  of  Olid, 
a  cavalier  who  took  an  important  part  afterwards  in  the  Con- 
quest. Finally  he  resolved  to  fit  out  another  armament  on  a 
sufiScient    scale  to  insure  the  subjugation  of  the  country. 

He  previously  solicited  authority  for  this  from  the  Hieronymite 
commission  in  St.  Domingo.  He  then  despatched  his  chaplain 
to  Spain  with  the  royal  share  of  the  gold  brought  from  Mexico, 
and  a  full  account  of  the  intelligence  gleaned  there.  He  set 
forth  his  own  manifold  services,  and  solicited  from  the  court 
full  powers  to  go  on  with  the  conquest  and  colonization  of  the 
newly  discovered  regions.''*  Before  receiving  an  answer,  he 
began  his  preparations  for  the  armament,  and,  first  of  all,  en- 
devored  to  find  a  suitable  person  to  share  the  expense  of  it, 
and  to  take  the  command.  Such  a  person  he  found,  after  some 
difficulty  and  delay,  in  Hernando  Cortes ;  the  man  of  all  others 
best  calculated  to  achieve  this  great  enterprise, — the  last  man, 
to  whom  Velasquez,  could  he  have  foreseen  the  results,  would 
have  confided  it. 

1"  "  Hombre  de  terrible  condicion,"  says  Herrera,  citing  the  good  Bishop  of 
Chiapa,  "  i>«ra  los  que  le  Servian,  i  aiudaban,  i  que  facilmente  se  indignaba 
contra  aquellos."     Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  3,  cap.  10. 

'*'  At  least,  such  is  the  testimony  of  Las  Casas,  who  knew  both  the  parties 
well,  and  had  often  conversed  with  Grijalva  upon  his  voyage.  Historia  Gen- 
eral de  las  Indias,  MS.,  lib.  3,  cap,  113. 

>*  Itinerario  del  Capellano,  MS.  —  Las  C;asas,  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS.,  lib. 
3,  cap.  113. 

The  most  circumstantial  account  of  Grijalva's  exjiedition  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Itinerary  of  his  chaplain  above  quoted.  The  original  is  lost,  but  an  in- 
different Italian  version  was  jniblished  at  Venice,  in  1522.  .-\  copy  which  be- 
longed to  P'erdinand  Columbus,  is  still  extant  in  the  library  of  the  great 
church  of  .Seville.  The  book  had  become  so  exceedingly  rare,  however,  that 
the  historiographer,  Mufioz,  made  a  transcript  of  it  with  his  own  hand,  and 
from  hia  manuscript  that  in  my  possession  was  takea. 


170 


DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO* 


CHAPTER  II. 

Hernando  Cortes. — His  Early  Life. — Visits  the  New  WoRLa 
— His  Residence  in  Cuba. — Difficulties  with  Velasquez. 
— Armada  intrusted  to  Cortes. 

1518. 

Hernando  Cortes  was  born  at  Medellin,  a  town  in  the  south- 
east corner  of  Estremadura,  in  1485.^  He  came  of  an  ancient 
and  respectable  family  ;  and  historians  have  gratified  the  national 
vanity  by  tracing  it  up  to  the  Lombard  kings,  whose  descendants 
crossed  the  Pyrenees,  and  established  themselves  in  Aragon 
under  the  Gothic  monarchy.^  This  royal  genealogy  was  not 
found  out  till  Cortds  had  acquired  a  name  which  would  confer 
distinction  on  any  descent,  however  noble.  His  father, 
Martin  Cortes  de  Monroy,  was  a  captain  of  infantry,  in  moder- 
ate circumstances,  but  a  man  of  unblemished  honor  ;  and  both 
he  and  his  wife.  Dona  Catalina  Pizarro  Altamirano,  appear  to 
have  been  much  regarded  for  their  excellent  qualities.^ 

In  his  infancy  Cortds  is  said  to  have  had  a  feeble  constitution, 
which  strengthened  as  he  grew  older.  At  fourteen,  he  was  sent 
to  Salamanca,  as  his  father,  who  conceived  great  hopes  from  his 
quick  and  showy  parts,  proposed  to  educate  him  for  the  law,  a 

^Gomara,  Cronica,  cap.  i. — Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  d.e  la  Conquista,  cap.  203. 
I  find  no  more  precise  notice  of  the  date  of  his  birth;  excej^i,  indeed,  by  Piz- 
arro y  Orellana,  who  tells  us  "  that  Cortes  came  into  the  world  the  same  day 
that  that  mfernai  beast,  the  false  heretic  Luther,  went  out  o£  it, — by  w^ay  of 
compensation,  no  doubt,  since  the  labors  of  the  one  to  pull  down  the  true 
faith  were  counterbalanced  by  those  of  the  other  to  maintain  and  extend  it  I" 
(Varones  Illustres  del  Nuevo  Mundo,  (Madrid,  1639,)  p.  66.)  But  this  state- 
ment of  the  good  cavalier,  which  places  the  birth  of  our  hero  in  1483,  looks 
rather  more  like  a  zeal  for  "  the  true  faith,"  than  for  historic. 

'^Argensola,  in  particular,  has  bestowed  great  pains  on  the  prosapia  of  the 
house  of  Cortes;  which  he  traces  up,  nothing  doubting,  to  Names  Cortes, 
king  of  Lombardy  and  Tuscany.  Anales  de  Aragon,  (Zaragoza,  1630,)  pp. 
621-625. — Also,  Caro  de  Torres,  Historia  de  las  Ordenes  Militares,  (Madrid, 
1629,)  fol.  103. 

8De  Rebus  Gestis,  MS. 

Las  Casas,  who  knew  the  father,  bears  stronger  testimony  to  his  poverty 
than  to  his  noble  birth.  "Un  escudero,"  he  says  of  him,  "queyoconoa 
harto  pobre  y  hurnilde,  aunque  Christiano,  viejo  y  dizen  que  hidalgo."  Hist, 
de  las  Indias,  M.S.,  lib.  3,  cap.  27, 


HERiYANDO  CORTES. 


«7« 


profession  which  held  out  better  inducements  to  the  young  as- 
pirant than  any  other.  The  son,  however,  did  not  conform  to 
these  views.  He  showed  little  fondness  for  books,  and,  after 
loitering  away  two  years  at  college,  returned  home,  to  the  great 
chagrin  of  his  parents.  Yet  his  time  had  not  been  wholly  mis- 
spent, since  he  had  laid  up  a  little  store  of  Latin,  and  learned 
to  write  good  prose,  and  even  verses  "  of  some  estimation,  con- 
sidering " — as  an  old  writer  quaintly  remarks — "  Cortds  as  the 
author,"  *  He  now  passed  his  days  in  the  idle,  unprofitable 
manner  of  one  who,  too  wilful  to  be  guided  by  others,  proposes 
no  object  to  himself.  His  buoyant  spirits  were  continually  break- 
ing out  in  troublesome  frolics  and  capricious  humors,  quite  at 
variance  with  the  orderly  habits  of  his  father's  household.  He 
showed  a  particular  inclination  for  the  military  profession,  or 
rather  for  the  life  of  adventure  to  which  in  those  days  it  was 
sure  to  lead.  And  when,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  proposed 
to  enrol  himself  under  the  banners  of  the  Great  Captain,  his 
parents,  probably  thinking  a  life  of  hardship  and  hazard  abroad 
preferable  to  one  of  idleness  at  home,  made  no  objection. 

The  youthful  cavalier,  however,  hesitated  whether  to  seek  his 
fortunes  under  that  victorious  chief,  or  in  the  New  World,  where 
gold  as  well  as  glory  was  to  be  won,  and  where  the  very  dangers 
had  a  mystery  and  romance  in  them  inexpressibly  fascinating  to 
a  youthful  fancy.  It  was  in  this  direction,  accordingly,  that  the 
hot  spirits  of  that  day  found  a  vent,  especially  from  that  part  of 
the  country  where  Cortds  lived,  the  neighborhood  of  Seville  and 
Cidiz,  the  focus  of  nautical  enterprise.  He  decided  on  this 
latter  course,  and  an  opportunity  offered  in  the  splendid  arma- 
ment fitted  out  under  Don  Nicolas  de  Ovando,  successor  to 
Columbus.  An  unlucky  accident  defeated  the  purpose  of 
Cort^s.^ 

As  he  was  scaling  a  high  wall,  one  night,  which  gave  him 
access  to  the  apartment  of  a  lad}'  with  whom  he  was  engaged  in 
an  intrigue,  the  stones  gave  way,  and  he  was  thrown  down  with 
much  violence  and  buried  under  the  ruins.  A  severe  contusion, 
though  attended  with  no  other  serious  consequences,  confined 
him  to  his  bed  till  after  the  departure  of  the  fleei.'' 

^  Argenso'a,  Anales,  p.  220. 

Las  (Jasas  and  I5ernal  Diaz  both  state  that  l\e  was  IJachelor  of  Laws  at  vSaU 
amuica.  (Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS,,  ubi  supra.  —  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap. 
20";.)  'I'lio  degree  was  given  probal^ly  in  later  life,  when  the  University  might 
feci  a  pride  in  claiming  him  among  her  sons. 

*  De  Rebus  Ciestis,  M.S. — Oomara,  Oonica,  cap.  i 

•De  Kebus  Gestis,  MS, — Gomara,  Ibid. 

Argensola  states  the  cause  of  his  detention  concisely  enough:  "  Saspendi4 
9I  Tiaje,/(7r  enamoraJj y  por  (/iui>  f  ina> io.^^     AnalfS,  p,  62c, 


17: 


DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO. 


Two  years  longer  he  remained  at  home,  profiting  little,  as  it 
would  seem,  from  the  lesson  he  had  received.  At  length  he 
availed  himself  of  another  opportunity  presented  by  the  departure 
of  a  small  squadron  of  vessels  bound  to  the  Indian  islands.  He 
was  nineteen  years  of  age,  when  he  bade  adieu  to  his  native 
shores  in  1504, — the  same  year  in  which  Spain  lost  the 
best  and  greatest  in  her  long  line  of  princes,  Isabella  the 
Catholic. 

The  vessel  in  which  Cortes  sailed  was  commanded  by  one 
Alonso  Ouintero.  The  fleet  touched  at  the  Canaries,  as  was 
common  in  the  outward  passage.  While  the  other  vessels  were 
detained  there  taking  in  supplies,  Quintero  secretly  stole  out  by 
night  from  the  island,  with  the  design  of  reaching  Hispaniola, 
and  securing  the  market,  before  the  arrival  of  his  companions. 
A  furious  storm,  which  he  encountered,  however,  dismasted  his 
ship,  and  he  was  obliged  to  return  to  port  and  refit.  The  convoy 
consented  to  wait  for  their  unworthy  partner,  and  after  a  short 
detention  they  all  sailed  in  company  again.  But  the  faithless 
Quintero,  as  thev  drew  near  the  Islands,  availed  himself  once 
more  of  the  darkness  of  the  night,  to  leave  the  squadron  with 
the  same  purpose  as  before.  Unluckily  for  him,  he  met  with  a 
succession  of  heavy  gales  and  head  winds,  which  drove  him  from 
his  course,  and  he  wholly  lost  his  reckoning.  For  many  days 
the  vessel  was  tossed  about,  and  all  on  board  were  filled  with 
apprehensions,  and  no  little  indignation  against  the  author  of 
their  calamities.  At  length  they  were  cheered  one  morning  with 
the  sight  of  a  white  dove,  which,  wearied  by  its  flight,  lighted  on 
the  topmast.  The  biographers  of  Cortds  speak  of  it  as  a 
miracle.'  Fortunately  it  was  no  miracle,  but  a  very  natural  oc- 
currence, showing  incontestably  that  they  were  near  land.  In  a 
short  time,  by  taking  the  direction  of  the  bird's  flight,  they 
reached  the  island  of  Hispaniola  ;  and,  on  coming  into  port,  the 
worthy  master  had  the  satisfaction  to  find  his  companions 
arrived  before  him,  and  their  cargoes  already  sold.^ 

Immediately  on  landing,  Cortds  repaired  to  the  house  of  the 
governor,  to  whom  he  had  been  personally  known  in  Spain. 
Ovando  was  absent  on  an  expedition  into  the  interior,  but  the 
young  man  was  kindly  received  by  the  secretary,  who  assured 
him  there  would  be  no  doubt  of  his  obtaining  a  liberal  grant  of 

'Some  thought  it  was  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  form  of  this  dove;  ''  Sanctum 
esse  Spiritum,  qui,  in  illius  alitis  specie,  ut  moestos  et  afflictos  solaretur, 
venire  erat  dignatus";  (De  Rebus  Gestis,  MS.;)  a  conjecture  which  seems 
vltv  reasonable  to  Pizarro  y  Orellana,  since  the  expedition  was  to  "redound 
so  much  to  the  spread  of  the  Catholic  faith,  and  the  Castilian  monarchy"* 
Varones  Illustres,  p.  70. 

*■  Goinara,  Cronica,  cap.  2. 


DIFFICULTIES  WITH  VELASQUEZ.  lyj 

\and  to  settle  on.     "  But  I  came  to  get  gold,"  replied  Cort<^s, 

"  not  to  till  the  soil,  like  a  peasant." 

On  the  governor's  return,  Cortes  consented  to  giving  up  his 
roving  thoughts,  at  least  for  a  time,  as  the  other  labored  to  con- 
vince him  that  he  would  be  more  likely  to  realize  his  wishes 
from  the  slow,  indeed,  but  sure,  returns  of  husbandry,  where  the 
soil  and  the  laborers  were  a  free  gift  lo  the  planter,  than  by 
taking  his  chance  in  the  lottery  of  adventure,  in  which  there  were 
so  many  blanks  to  a  prize.  He  accordingly  received  a  grant  of 
land,  with  a  reparthniento  of  Indians,  and  was  appointed  notary 
of  the  town  or  settlement  of  Agua.  His  graver  pursuits,  how- 
ever, did  not  prevent  his  indulgence  of  the  amorous  propensities 
which  belong  to  the  sunny  clime  where  he  was  born;  and  this 
frequently  involved  him  in  affairs  of  honor,  from  which,  though 
an  expert  swordsman,  he  carried  away  scars  that  accompanied 
him  to  his  grave.*  He  occasionally,  moreover,  found  the  means 
of  breaking  up  the  monotony  of  his  way  of  life  by  engaging  in 
the  military  expeditions,  which,  under  the  command  of  Ovando's 
lieutenant,  Diego  Velasquez,  were  employed  to  suppress  the  in- 
surrections of  the  natives.  In  this  school  the  young  adventurer 
first  studied  the  wild  tactics  of  Indian  warfare  ;  he  became  fa- 
miliar with  toil  and  danger,  and  with  those  deeds  of  cruelty  which 
have  too  often,  alas!  stained  the  bright  scutcheons  of  the  Castil- 
ian  chivalry  in  the  New  World.  He  was  only  prevented  by  ill- 
ness— a  most  fortunate  one,  on  this  occasion — from  embarking 
in  Nicuessa's  expedition,  which  furnished  a  tale  of  woe,  not  often 
matched  in  the  annals  of  S])anibh  discovery.  Providence  re- 
served him  for  higher  ends. 

At  length,  in  15 ii,  when  Velasquez  undertook  the  conquest 
of  Cuba,  Cortes  willingly  abandoned  his  quiet  life  for  the  stirring 
scenes  there  opened,  and  took  part  in  the  expedition.  He  dis- 
played, throughout  the  invasion,  an  activity  and  courage  that 
won  him  the  approbation  of  the  commander  ;  while  his  free  and 
cordial  manners,  his  good-humor,  and  lively  sallies  of  wit  made 
him  the  favorite  of  the  soldiers.  "  He  gave  little  evidence," 
says  a  contemporary  "  of  the  great  qualities  which  he  after- 
wards showed."  It  is  probable  these  qualities  were  not  known 
to  himself;  while  to  a  common  observer  his  careless  manners 
and  jocund  repartees  might  well  scein  incompatible  with  any 
thing  serious  or  profound;  as  the  real  de]:)th  of  the  current  is 
not  suspected  under  the  light  play  and  sunny  sparkling  of  the 
surface.^' 

'  Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  ConquLsta,  cap.  203. 

^"  De  Rehu.s  Cicstis,  MS. — Ciomara,  Cronica,  cap.  3,  4. — Las  Casas,  Hist 
de  lata  Iiidiasj,  M.S.,  lib.  3,  cap.  27. 

Mexico  8  "Vol.  1 


>74 


DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO. 


After  the  reduction  of  the  island,  Cortes  seems  to  have  beei 
held  in  great  favor  by  Velasquez,  now  appointed  its  governor. 
According  to  Las  Casas,  he  was  made  one  of  his  secretaries." 
He  still  retained  the  same  fondness  for  gallantry,  for  which  his 
handsome  person  afforded  obvious  advantages,  but  which  had 
more  than  once  brought  him  into  trouble  in  earlier  life.  Among 
the  families  who  had  taken  up  their  residence  in  Cuba  was  one 
of  the  name  of  Xuarez,  from  Granada  in  Old  Spain,  It  consisted 
of  a  brother,  and  four  sisters  remarkable  for  their  beauty.  With 
one  of  them,  named  Catalina,  the  susceptible  heart  of  the  young 
soldier  became  enamoured.^  How  far  the  intimacy  was  carried  is 
not  quite  certain.  But  it  appears  he  gave  his  promise  to  marry 
her, — a  promise,  which,  when  the  time  came,  and  reason,  it  may 
be,  had  got  the  better  of  passion,  he  showed  no  alacrity  in  keep- 
ing. He  resisted,  indeed,  all  remonstrances  to  this  effect,  from 
the  lady's  family,  backed  by  the  governor,  and  somewhat  sharp- 
ened, no  doubt,  in  the  latter  by  the  particular  interest  he  took  in 
one  of  the  fair  sisters,  who  is  said  not  to  have  repaid  it  with  in- 
gratitude. 

Whether  the  rebuke  of  Velasquez,  or  some  other  cause  of 
disgust,  rankled  in  the  breast  of  Cortez,  he  now  became  cold  tow- 
ard his  patron,  and  connected  himself  with  a  disaffected  party 
tolerably  numerous  in  the  island.  They  were  in  the  habit  of 
meeting  at  his  house  and  brooding  over  their  causes  of  discon- 
tent, chiefly  founded,  it  would  appear,  on  what  they  conceived 
an  ill  requital  of  their  services  in  the  distribution  of  lands  and 
offices.  It  may  well  be  imagined,  that  it  could  have  been  no 
easy  task  for  the  ruler  of  one  of  these  colonies,  however  dis- 
creet and  well  intentioned,  to  satisfy  the  indefinite  cravings  of 
speculators  and  ad^•enturers.  who  swarmed,  like  so  many  fam- 
ished harpins,  in  the  track  of  discovery  in  the  New^  World. ■^'^ 

The  malcontents  determined  to  lay  their  grievances  before 
the  higher  authorities  in  Hispaniola,  from  whom  Velasquez  had 
received  his  commission.  The  voyage  was  one  of  some  hazard, 
as  it  was  to  be  made    in  an  open  boat,  across  an  arm  of  the  sea 

'1  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS.,  loc.  cit. 

"  Res  omnes  arduas  difficilesque  per  Cortesium.  quein  in  dies  niagis  mag- 
isnne  amplectebatur,  Velasquius  agit.  Ex  eo  ducis  favore  et  gratia  niagni 
Cortesio  invidia  est  orta."     De  Rebus  Gestis,  MS. 

'*  Soils  has  found  a  patent  of  nobility  for  tliis  lady  also, —  "  doncella  noble 
y  recatada."  (Ilistoria  de  la  Conquista  de  Mejico,' (Paris,  183S,)  lib  i,  cap. 
9.)  I.as  Casas  treats  her  with  less  ceremony.  "  Una  herniana  de  uti  Juan 
Xuarez,  j^^ente  pobre:''     Hist,  de  las  Tiidias,  AIS.,  lib.  3.  cap.  17. 

'■^Gomara,  ('ronic.i,  ca]i.  4.  —  Las  (!nsas.  His.  de  las  Indias,  MS.,  ubi  supra. 
— De  Rebus  Gestis,  MS. — Memorial  de  Benito  Martinez,  capellan  de  D.  Vel- 
asquex,  contra  H.  Cortes,  M.S. 


DIFFICULTIES  WI'J'H  VELASQUEZ. 


^75 


eighteen  Ip.gue^  wide,,;  and  they  fixed  on  Cortds,  with  whose 
fearless  spirir  iney  were  well  acquainted,  as  the  fittest  man  to 
undertake  it.  The  conspiracy  got  wind,  and  came  to  the  gover- 
nor's ear  before  tlie  departure  of  the  envoy,  whom  he  instantly 
caused  to  be  seized,  loaded  with  fetters,  and  placed  in  strict 
confinement.  It  is  even  said,  he  would  have  hung  him,  but  for 
the  interposition  of  his  friends."  The  fact  is  not  incredible. 
The  governors  of  these  little  territories,  having  entire  control 
over  the  fortunes  of  their  subjects,  enjoyed  an  authority  far  more 
despotic  than  that  of  the  sovereign  himself.  They  were  generally 
men  of  rank  and  personal  consideration  :  their  distance  from  the 
mother  country  withdrew  their  conduct  from  searching  scrutiny, 
and,  when  that  did  occur,  they  usually  had  interest  and  means 
of  corruption  at  command,  sufficient  to  shield  them  from  pun- 
ishment. The  Spanish  colonial  history,  in  its  earlier  stages, 
affords  striking  instances  of  the  extraordinary  assumption  and 
abuse  of  powers  by  these  petty  potentates  ;  and  the  sad  fate  of 
Vasquez  Nunez  de  Balboa,  the  illustrious  discoverer  of  the  Pacific, 
though  the  most  signal,  is  by  no  means  a  solitary  example,  that 
the  greatest  services  could  be  requited  by  persecution  and  an 
ignominious  death. 

The  governor  of  Cuba,  however,  although  irascible  and  sus- 
picious in  his  nature,  does  not  seem  to  have  been  vindictive,  nor 
particularly  cruel.  In  the  present  instance,  indeed,  it  may  well 
be  doubted  whether  the  blame  would  not  be  more  reasonably 
charged  on  the  unfounded  expectations  of  his  followers  than  on 
himself. 

Conds  did  not  long  remain  in  durance.  He  contrived  to 
throw  back  one  of  the  bolts  of  his  fetters  ;  and,  after  extricating 
his  limbs,  succeeded  in  forcing  open  a  window  with  the  iroiis  so 
as  to  admit  of  his  escape.  He  was  lodged  on  the  second  fioor 
of  the  building,  and  was  able  to  let  himself  down  to  the  pave- 
ment without  injury,  and  unobserved.  He  then  made  the  best 
of  his  way  to  a  neighboring  church,  where  he  claimed  the  priv- 
lege  of  sanctuary. 

Velasquez,  though  incensed  at  his  escape,  was  afraid  to 
violate  the  sanctity  of  the  place  by  employing  force.  But  he 
stationed  a  guard  in  the  neighborhood,  with  orders  to  seize  the 
fugitive,  if  he  should  forget  himself  so  far  as  to  leave  the  sanct- 
uary. In  a  few  days  this  happened.  As  Cortes  was  carelessly 
standing  without  the  walls  in  front  of  the  building,  an  alguactl 
suddenly  sprung  on  him  from  behind  and  pinioned  his  arms, 
while  others    rushed  in  and    secured   him.     This    man,    whose 

**  Las  Cata;-,  Hi^t.  de  hi-,  liidias,  MS.,  ubi  supra. 


IjC  DISCO VEK  Y  OF  MEXICO. 

name  was  Juan   ^  scudero,  was  afterwards  hung  by  Cortes  for 

some  offence  in  New  Spain. ^^ 

The  unlucky  prisoner  was  again  put  in  irons,  and  carried  on 
board  a  vessel  to  sail  the  next  morning  for  Hispaniola,  there  to 
undergo  his  trial.  Fortune  favored  him  once  more.  He  suc- 
ceeded, after  much  difficulty  and  no  little  pain,  in  passing  his 
feet  through  the  rings  which  shackled  them.  He  then  came 
cautiously  on  deck,  and,  covered  by  the  darkness  of  the  night, 
stole  quietly  down  the  side  of  the  ship  into  a  boat  that  lay 
floating  below.  He  pushed  off  from  the  vessel  with  as  little 
noise  as  possible.  As  he  drew  near  the  shore,  the  stream  be- 
came rapid  and  turbulent.  He  hesitated  to  trust  his  boat  to 
it  ;  and  as  he  was  an  excellent  swimmer  prepared  to  breast  it 
himself,  and  boldly  plunged  into  the  water.  The  current  was 
strong,  but  the  arm  of  a  man  struggling  for  life  was  stronger  ; 
and  after  buffeting  the  waves  till  he  was  nearly  exhausted,  he 
succeeded  in  gaining  a  landing;  when  he  sought  refuge  in  the 
same  sanctuary  which  had  protected  him  before.  The  facility 
with  which  Cortes  a  second  time  effected  his  escape  may  lead 
one  to  doubt  the  fidelity  of  his  guards  ;  who  perhaps  looked  on 
him  as  the  victim  of  persecution,  and  felt  the  influence  of  those 
popular  manners  which  seem  to  have  gained  him  friends  in 
every  society  into  which  he  was  thrown.is 

For  some  reason  not  explained, — perhaps  from  policy, — he 
now  relinquished  his  objections  to  the  marriage  with  Catalina 
Xuarez.  He  thus  secured  the  good  offices  of  her  family.  Soon 
afterwards  the  governor  himself  relented,  and  became  recon- 
ciled to  his  unfortunate  enemy.  A  stra<ige  story  is  told 
in  connexion  with  this  event.  It  is  said,  his  proud  spirit 
refused  to  accept  the  proffers  of  reconciliation  made  him 
by  Velasquez  ;  and  that  one  evening,  leaving  the  sanctuary,  he 
presented  himself  unexpectedly  before  the  latter  in  his  own 
quarters,  when  on  a  military  excursion  at  some  distance  from 
the  capital.  The  governor,  startled  by  the  sudden  apparition  of 
his  enemy  completely  armed  before  him,  with  some  dismay  in- 
quired the  meaning  of  it.  Cortds  answered  by  insisting  on  a 
full  explanation  of  his  previous  conduct.  After  some  hot  discus- 
sion the  interview  terminated  amicably  ;  the  parties  embraced, 
and,  when  a  messenger  arrived  to  announce  the  escape  of  Cortes, 

^•''Las  Casas,  Hist,  de  la  Indias,  MS.  loc.  cit. — Memorial  de  Martinez,  MS. 

i^Goraara,  Cronica,  cap.  4. 

Herrera  tells  a  silly  story  of  his  being  unable  to  swim,  and  throwing  iiinv 
lelf  on  a  plank,  which,  after  being  carried  out  to  sea,  was  washed  ashore 
^th  him  at  flood  tide.     Hist.  General,  dec.  i,  lib.  9,  cap.  8. 


AKMADA  INTRUSTED   TO  CORTES.  i-jj 

he  found  him  in  ihe  apartments  of  his  Excellency,  where,  hav- 
ing retired  to  rest,  both  were  actually  sleeping  in  the  same  bed  ! 
The  anecdote  is  repeated  without  distrust  by  more  than  one 
biographer  of  Cortds.-''  It  is  not  very  probable,  liowever,  tliat 
a  haughty,  irascible  man  like  Velasquez  should  have  given  such 
uncommon  proofs  of  condescension  and  familiarity  to  one,  so 
far  beneath  him  in  station,  with  whom  he  had  been  so  recently  in 
deadly  feud  ;  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  that  Cortes  should  have 
had  the  silly  temerity  to  brave  the  lion  in  his  den,  where  a  single 
nod  would  have  sent  him  to  the  gibbet, — and  that,  too,  with  as 
little  compunction  or  fear  of  consequences,  as  would  have  at- 
tended the  execution  of  an  Indian  slave.i^ 

The  reconciliation  n  iih  the  governor,  however  brought  about, 
was  permanent.  Cor.es,  though  not  reestablished  in  the  ofhce 
of  secretary,  received  a  liberal  rep ar tint it'tito  of  Indians,  and  an 
ample  territory  in  the  neighborhood  of  St.  Jago,  of  which  he 
was  soon  after  made  alcalde.  He  now  lived  almost  wholly  on 
his  estate,  devoting  himself  to  agriculture  with  more  zeal  than 
formerlv.  He  stocked  his  plantation  with  different  kinds  of 
cattle,  some  of  which  were  first  introduced  by  him  into  Cuba." 
He  wrought,  also,  the  gold  mines  which  fell  to  his  share,  and 
which  in  this  island  promised  better  returns  than  those  in  His- 
paniola.  By  this  course  of  industry  he  found  himseT,  in  a  few 
years,  master  of  some  two  or  three  thousand  castellafios,  a  large 
sum  for  one  in  his  situation.  "God,  who  alone  knows  at  what 
cost  of  Indian  lives  it  was  obtained,"  exclaims  Las  Casas,  '*  will 
take  account  of  it !  "^  His  days  glided  smoothly  away  in  these 
tranquil  pursuits,  and  in  the  society  of  his  beautiful  wife,  who, 
however  ineligible  as  a  connexion,  from  the  inferiority  of  her 
condition,  appears  to  have  fulfilled  all  the  relations  of  a  faithful 
and  affectionate  partner.  Indeed,  he  was  often  heard  to  say  at 
this  time,  as  the  good  bishop  above   quoted   remarks,   "that  he 

I'^Gomnra.  Cronica.  cai").  4. 

"  Ccenat  cubatc|ue  Cortcsius  cum  Velasqiiio  eodeiii  in  lecto.  Qui  postcro 
die  fngae  Cortesii  nuntiiis  vencrat,  Vciasciuium  et  Cortesiuni  juxta  accubantes 
tntuitus,  miratur."     l)e  Rebus  Gestis.  MS, 

'"  Las  (Jasas,  who  rcmcnil)ered  Cones  at  this  time  "so  poor  and  lowlv  that 
he  would  have  gladly  received  any  favor  from  the  least  of  Velas<juez'  attend- 
ants," treats  the  story  of  the  bravado  with  contempt.  "  For  lo  (jual  si  i\ 
fVelasquez]  sintiera  de  CortC's  una  puncta  de  alfiler  de  rerviguillo  6  pres- 
uncion,  o  lo  ahorcara  6  a  lomenos  lo  echara  de  la  tierra  v  lo  sumiera  en  ella 
•in  fiue  alzara  cabeza  en  su  vida."     Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS.  lib.  3,  cap  27. 

^  Pecuariam  primus  quofpie  habuit,  in  insulamque  induxit,  omni  pecorura 
gcnerc  ex  Hispania  petito.''     De  Rel^us  Gestis,  Mb. 

*  "  Los  que  por  sacarle  el  oro  mnrieron  Dios  abri  tenido  mejor  cucnt» 
que  yo."  nist  de  las  Indias,  M8^  lib  3,  cap.  37.  The  text  is  a  fre«  traa» 
■ftioiit 


1 7  8  DISCO  VEK  Y  OF  MEXICO. 

lived  as  happily  with  her  as  if  she  had  been  the  daughter  of  t, 
duchess."  Fortune  gave  him  the  means  in  after  lite  of  verify.^ 
I'ng  the  truth  of  his  assertion.'^^ 

Such  was  the  state  of  things,  when  Alvarada  returned  with 
the  tidings  of  Grijalva's  discoveries,  and  the  rich  fruits  of  his 
traffic  with  the  natives.  The  news  spread  like  wildfire  through- 
out the  island  ;  for  all  saw  in  it  the  promise  of  more  important 
results  than  any  hitherto  obtained.  The  governor,  as  already 
noticed,  resolved  to  follow  up  the  track  of  discovery  with  a  more 
considerable  armament;  and  he  looked  around  for  a  proper 
person  to  share  the  expense  of  it,  and  to  take  the  command. 

Several  hidalgos  presented  themselves,  whom,  from  want  of 
proper  qualifications,  or  from  his  distrust  of  their  assuming  an 
independence  of  their  employer,  he,  one  after  another,  rejected, 
There  were  two  persons  in  St,  J  ago  in  whom  he  placed  great 
confidence, — Amador  de  Lares,  the  contador  or  royal  treasurer,** 
and  his  own  secretary,  Andres  de  Duero.  Cortes  was  also  in 
close  intimacy  with  both  these  persons  ;  and  he  availed  himself 
of  it  to  prevail  on  them  to  recommend  him  as  a  suitable  per- 
son to  be  intrusted  with  the  expedition.  It  is  said,  he  reinforced 
the  proposal,  by  promising  a  liberal  share  of  the  proceeds  of  it. 
However  this  may  be,  the  parties  urged  his  selection  by  the 
governor,  with  all  the  eloquence  of  which  they  were  capable. 
That  officer  had  had  ample  experience  of  the  capacity  and  cour- 
age of  the  candidate.  He  knew,  too,  that  he  had  acquired  a 
fortune  which  would  enable  him  to  cooperate  materially  in  fit- 
ting out  the  armament.  His  popularity  in  the  island  would 
speedily  attract  followers  to  his  standard.^  All  past  animosi- 
ties had  long  since  been  buried  in  oblivion,  and  the  confidence 
he  was  now  to  repose  in  him  would  insure  his  fidelity  and  grati- 
tude. He  lent  a  willing  ear,  therefore,  to  the  recommendation 
of  his  counsellors,  and,  sending  for  Corte's,  announced  his  pur- 
pose of  making  him  Captain-General  of  the  Armada.'" 

^  "  Estando  commigo,  me  lo  dixo  que  estava  tan  content"  con  ella  como  sf 
fuera  hijade  una  Duquessa."  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS.,  ubi  supra. — Goniara, 
Cronica,  cap.  4. 

*2The  treasurer  used  to  boast  he  had  passed  some  two  and  twenty  years  in 
the  wars  of  Itaiy.  He  was  a  shrewd  personage,  and  Las  Casas.  thinking  that 
country  a  slippery  school  for  morals,  warned  the  governor,  he  says,  more 
than  once  "  to  beware  of  the  twenty-two  years  in  Italy."  Hist,  de  las  Indias, 
MS.,  lib.  3,  ca]j.  1 13. 

^  "  Si  el  no  fuera  por  Capitan,  que  no  fuera  la  tercera,  paite  de  la  gente 
que  con  el  fu^."  Declaracion  de  Puertocarrero,  MS.  (Coruna,  30  dc  Abril, 
1520.) 

*Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  19. — De  Rebus  Gestis,  MS.— 
Gomara,  Crdnica,  cap.  7. — Las  Casas,  Hist.  General  de  las  Indias,  MS.,  ]iU 
4  cap.  113. 


ARMADA  INTRUSTED   TO  CORTES. 


'79 


Cortes  had  now  attained  the  object  of  his  wishes, — the  object 
for  which  his  soul  had  panted,  ever  since  he  had  set  foot  in  the 
New  World.  He  was  no  longer  to  be  condemned  to  a  life  of 
mercenary  drudgery  ;  nor  to  be  cooped  up  within  the  precincts 
of  a  petty  island.  But  he  was  to  be  placed  on  a  new  and  in- 
dependent theatre  of  action,  and  a  boundless  perspective  was 
opened  to  his  view,  which  might  satisfy  not  merely  the  wildest 
cravings  of  avarice,  but,  to  a  bold,  aspiring  spirit  like  his,  the 
far  more  importunate  cravings  of  ambition.  He  fully  appre- 
ciated the  importance  of  the  late  discoveries,  and  read  in  them 
the  existence  of  the  great  empire  in  the  far  West,  dark  hints  of 
which  had  floated,  from  time  to  time,  to  the  Islands,  and  of 
which  more  certain  glimpses  had  been  caught  by  those  who  had 
reached  the  continent.  This  was  the  country  intimated  to  the 
"Great  Admiral"  in  his  visit  to  Honduras  in  1502,  and  which 
he  might  have  reached,  had  he  held  on  a  northern  course,  in- 
stead of  striking  to  the  south  in  quest  of  an  imaginary  strait. 
As  it  was,  "he  had  but  opened  the  gate,"  to  use  his  own  bitter 
expression,  "  for  others  to  enter."  The  time  had  at  length  come, 
when  they  were  to  enter  it ;  and  the  young  adventurer,  whose 
magic  lance  was  to  dissolve  the  spell  which  had  so  long  hung 
over  these  mysterious  regions,  now  stood  ready  to  assume  the 
enterprise. 

From  this  hour  the  deportment  of  Cortes  seemed  to  undergo 
a  change.  His  thoughts,  instead  of  evaporating  in  empty  levities 
or  idle  flashes  of  merriment,  were  wholly  concentrated  on  the 
great  object  to  which  he  was  devoted.  His  elastic  spirits  were 
shown  in  cheering  and  stimulating  the  companions  of  his  toil- 
some duties,  and  he  was  roused  to  a  generous  enthusiasm,  of 
which  even  those  who  knew  him  best  had  not  conceived  him 
capable.  He  applied  at  once  all  the  money  in  his  possession  to 
fitting  out  tlie  armament.  He  raised  more  by  the  mortgage  of 
his  estates,  and  by  giving  his  obligations  to  some  wealthy  mer- 
chants of  the  place,  who  relied  for  their  reimbursement  on  the 
success  of  the  expedition  ;  and,  when  his  own  credit  was  ex 
hausted,  he  availed  himself  of  that  of  his  friends. 

The  funds  thus  acquired  he  expended  in  the  purchase  of 
vessels,  provisions,  and  military  stores,  while  he  invited  recruits 
by  offers  of  assistance  to  sucli  as  were  too  poor  to  provide  for 
themselves,  and  by  the  additional  promise  of  a  liberal  share  ot 
the  anticipated  profits.'-^ 

All  was   now  bustle   and  excitement  in  the  litf.le   town  of  St 

'*Declaracion  de  Puertocarrero,  MS. — Carta  de  Vera  Cruz,  MS. — Pro 
banza  en  la  Villa  Segura,  MS.  (4de  Oct.,  1520.) 


,8o  DISCO  VER  Y  OF  MEXICO. 

Jago,  Some  were  busy  in  refitting  the  vessels  and  getting 
them  ready  for  the  voyage,  some  in  providing  naval  stores; 
others  in  converting  their  own  estates  into  money  in  order  to 
equip  themselves ;  every  one  seemed  anxious  to  contribute  in 
some  way  or  other  to  the  success  of  the  expedition.  Six  ships, 
some  of  them  of  a  large  size,  had  already  been  procured  ;  and 
three  hundred  recruits  enrolled  themselves  in  the  course  of  a 
few  days,  eager  to  seek  their  fortunes  under  the  banner  of  this 
daring  and  popular  chieftain. 

How  far  the  governor  contributed  towards  the  expenses  of 
the  outfit  is  not  very  clear.  If  the  friends  of  Corte's  are  to  be 
believed,  nearly  the  whole  burden  fell  on  him  ;  since,  while  he 
supplied  the  squadron  without  remuneration,  the  governor  sold 
many  of  his  own  stores  at  an  exorbitant  profit.*  Yet  it  does  not 
seem  probable  that  Velasquez,  with  such  ample  means  at  his 
command,  should  have  thrown  on  his  deputy  the  burden  of  the 
expedition,  nor  that  the  latter — had  he  done  so — could  have 
been  in  a  condition  to  meet  these  expenses,  amounting,  as  we 
are  told,  to  more  than  twenty  thousand  gold  ducats.  Still  it 
cannot  be  denied  that  an  ambitious  man  like  Cortes,  who  was 
to  reap  all  the  glory  of  the  enterprise,  would  very  naturally  be 
less  solicitous  to  count  the  gains  of  it,  than  his  employer,  who, 
inactive  at  home,  and  having  no  laurels  to  win,  must  look  on  the 
pecuniary  profits  as  his  only  recompense.  The  question  gave 
rise,  some  years  later,  to  a  furious  litigation  between  the  parties, 
with  which  it  is  not  necessary  at  present  to  embarrass  the  reader. 

It  is  due  to  Velasquez  to  state  that  the  instructions  delivered 
by  him  for  the  conduct  of  the  expedition  cannot  be  charged  with 
a  narrow  or  mercenary  spirit.  The  first  object  of  the  voyage 
was  to  find  Grijalva,  after  which  the  two  commanders  were  to 
proceed  in  company  together.  Reports  had  been  brought  back 
by  Cordova,  on  his  return  from  the  first  visit  to  Yucatan,  that  six 
Christians  were   said  to  be  lingering  in  captivity  in  the  interior 

*The  letter  from  the  Municipality  of  Vela  Cruz,  after  stating  that  Velas- 
quez bore  only  one  third  of  the  original  expense,  adds,  "  Y  sepan  Vras, 
Magestades  que  la  mayor  parte  de  la  dicha  tercia  parte  que  el  dicho  Diego 
Velasquez  gasto  en  hacer  la  dicha  armada  fud,  emplear  sus  dineros  en  vinos 
y  en  ropas,  y  en  otras  cosas  de  poco  valor  para  nos  lo  vender  acd  en  mucha 
mas  cantidad  de  loque  a  ^1  le  costo,  por  manera  que  podemos  decir  que  entre 
nosotros  los  Espanoles  vasallos  de  Vras.  Reales  Altezas  ha  hecho  Diego 
Velasquez  sii  rescate  y  granosea  de  sus  dineros  cobrandolos  muy  bien." 
(Carta  de  Vera  Cruz,  MS.)  Puertocarrero  and  Montejo,  also,  in  their  de- 
positions taken  in  Spain,  both  speak  of  Cortes'  having  furnished  two  third* 
of  the  cost  of  the  flotilla.  (Declaracion  de  Puertocarrero,  MS. — Declaracion 
de  Montejo,  MS.  (29  de  Abril,  152a).)  The  letter  from  Vera  Cruz,  however, 
was  prepared  under  the  eye  of  Cortes ;  and  the  two  last  were  his  confidential 
crfficers 


ARMADA  INTRUSTED   TO  CORTES.  x%\ 

of  the  country.  It  was  supposed  they  might  belong  to  the  party 
of  the  unfortunate  Nicuessa,  and  orders  were  given  to  find  them 
out,  if  possible,  and  restore  them  to  liberty.  But  the  great 
object  of  the  expedition  was  barter  with  the  natives.  In  pursu- 
ing this,  special  care  was  to  be  taken  that  they  should  receive 
no  wrong,  but  be  treated  with  kindness  and  humanity.  Cortes 
was  to  bear  in  mind,  above  all  things,  that  the  object  whicn  the 
Spanish  monarch  had  most  at  heart  was  the  conversion  of  the 
Indians.  He  was  to  impress  on  them  the  grandeur  and  good- 
ness of  his  royal  master,  to  invite  them  "to  give  in  their  allegi- 
ance to  him,  and  to  manifest  it  by  regaling  him  with  such  com- 
fortable presents  of  gold,  pearls,  and  precious  stones  as,  by  show- 
ing their  own  good-wil),  would  secure  his  favor  and  protection." 
He  was  to  make  an  accurate  survey  of  the  coast,  sounding  its 
bays  and  inlets  for  the  benefit  of  future  navigators.  He  was  to 
acquaint  himself  with  the  natural  products  of  the  country,  with 
the  character  of  its  different  races,  their  institutions  and  progress 
in  civilization  ;  and  he  was  to  send  home  minute  accounts  of  all 
these,  together  with  such  articles  as  he  should  obtain  in  his  in- 
tercourse with  them.  Finally,  he  was  to  take  the  most  careful 
care  to  omit  nothing  that  might  redound  to  the  service  of  God 
or  his  sovereign,'^ 

Such  was  the  general  tenor  of  the  instructions  given  to  Cortes, 
and  they  must  be  admitted  to  provide  for  the  interests  of  science 
and  humanity,  as  well  as  for  those  which  had  reference  only  to 
a  commercial  speculation.  It  may  seem  strange,  considering 
the  discontent  shown  by  Velasquez  with  his  former  captain, 
Grijalva,  for  not  colonizing,  that  no  directions  should  have  been 
given  to  that  effect  here.  But  he  had  not  yet  received  from 
Spain  the  warrant  for  investing  his  agents  with  such  powers  ; 
and  that  which  had  been  obtained  from  the  Hieronymite  fathers 
in  Hispaniola  conceded  only  the  right  to  traffic  with  the  natives. 
The  commission  at  the  same  time  recognized  the  authority  of 
Cortds  as  Captain-General  of  the  expedition.^ 

2^  The  instrument,  in  the  original  Castilian,  will  be  found  in  Appendix,  Part 
2,  A'o.  5.     It  IS  often  referred  to  by  writers  who  never  saw  it,  as  the  Agree 
ment  between  Cortes  and   Velasquez.     It  is,  in  fact,  only  the  instructions 
given  by  this  latter  to  his  officer,  who  was  no  party  to  it. 

2^  Declaracion  de  Puertocarrero,  MS. — Gomara,  Cronica,  cap.  7. 

Velasquez  soon  after  obtained  from  the  crown  authority  to  colonize  the 
new  countries,  with  the  title  of  adflantado  over  them.  The  instrument  was 
dated  at  Barcelona,  Nov.  13th,  1518.  (Herrera,  Tl'rt.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  3, 
cap.  8.)  Empty  privileges!  Las  Casas  gives  a  c3,-^tic  etvmology  of  the  title 
of  adflantado,  so  often  granted  to  the  Spanish  discoverers.  "  Adelantados 
porque  se  arielantaran  en  hazer  males  y  dafios  tan  gravi»imoi  «.  gentes  pact 
Bcas."     Hist,  de  las  India*,  MS.,  lib.  3,  cap.  IL7. 


l82  DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO- 


CHAPTER  III. 

Jealousy  of  Velasquez. — Cortes  embarks. — Equipmejjt  of 
HIS  Fleet, — His  Person  and  Character. — Rendezvous  at 
Havana. — Strength  of  his  Armament. 

1519- 

The  importance  given  to  Cortds  by  his  new  position,  and, 
perhaps,  a  somewhat  more  lofty  bearing,  gradually  gave  un- 
easiness to  the  naturally  suspicious  temper  of  Velasquez,  who 
became  apprehensive  that  his  officer,  when  away  where  he  would 
have  the  power,  might  also  have  the  inclination,  to  throw  oflf  his 
dependence  on  him.  altogether.  An  accidental  circumstance  at 
this  time  heightened  these  suspicions.  A  mad  fellow,  his  jester, 
one  of  those  crack-brained  wits, — half  wit,  half  fool, — who 
formed  in  those  days  a  common  appendage  to  every  great  man's 
establishment,  called  out  to  the  governor,  as  he  was  taking  his 
usual  walk  one  raorning  with  Cortes  towards  the  port,  "  Have  a 
care,  master  Velasquez,  or  we  shall  have  to  go  a  hunting,  some 
day  or  other,  after  this  same  captain  of  ours  !  "  "  Do  you  hear 
what  the  rogue  says  ?  "  exclaimed  the  governor  to  his  compan- 
ion. "  Do  not  heed  him,"  said  Cortes,  "  he  is  a  saucy  knave, 
and  deserves  a  good  whipping,"  The  words  sunk  deep,  how- 
ever, in  the  mind  of  Velasquez, — as,  indeed,  true  jests  are  apt 
to  stick. 

There  were  not  wanting  persons  about  his  Excellency,  who 
fanned  the  latent  embers  of  jealousy  into  a  blaze.  These 
worthy  gentlemen,  some  of  them  kinsmen  of  Velasquez,  who 
probably  felt  their  own  deserts  somewhat  thrown  into  the  shade 
by  the  rising  fortunes  of  Cortes,  reminded  the  governor  of  his  an- 
cient quarrel  with  that  officer,  and  of  the  little  probability  that 
affronts  so  keenly  felt  at  the  time  could  ever  be  forgotten.  By 
these  and  similar  suggestions,  and  by  misconstructions  of  the 
present  conduct  of  Cortes,  they  wrought  on  the  passions  of 
Velasquez  to  such  a  degree,  that  he  resolved  to  intrust  the  ex- 
pedition to  other  hands.^ 

'  "  Deterrebat."  savs  the  anonymous  biographer,  "  eum  Cortesii  natura 
imperii  avida,  fiducia  sui  inpjens,  et  nimius  sumptus  in  classe  paranda. 
Timere   itaque  Vclasciuius  ccepit,  si  Cortesius  cum  ea  classe  iret.  nihil  .t<1  se 


CORTES  EMBARKS.  183 

He  communicated  his  rlesign  to  his  confidential  advisers, 
Lares  and  Duero,  and  these  trusty  personages  reported  it  with- 
out delay  to  Cortds,  although,  "  to  a  man  of  half  his  penetration," 
says  Las  Casas,  "  the  thing  would  have  been  readily  divined 
from  the  governor's  allcrttd  demeanor."''^  The  two  function- 
aries advised  their  friend  to  expedite  matters  as  much  as  pos- 
sible, and  to  lose  no  time  in  getting  his  fleet  ready  for  sea,  if  he 
would  retain  the  command  of  ir.  Cortes  showed  the  same 
prompt  decision  on  this  occasion,  which  more  than  once  after- 
wards in  a  similar  crisis  gave  the  direction  to  his  destiny. 

He  had  not  yet  got  his  complement  of  men,  nor  of  vessels; 
and  was  very  inadequately  provided  with  supplies  of  any  kind. 
But  he  resolved  to  weigh  anchor  that  very  night.  He  waited 
on  his  officers,  informed  them  of  his  purpose,  and  probably  of 
the  cause  of  it  ;  and  at  midnight,  when  the  town  was  hushed  in 
sleep,  they  all  went  quietly  on  board,  and  the  little  squadrou 
dropped  down  the  bay.  First,  however,  Cortes  had  visited  the 
person  whose  business  it  was  to  supply  the  place  with  meat, 
and  relieved  him  of  all  his  stock  on  hand,  notwithstanding  his 
complaint  that  the  city  must  suffer  for  it  on  the  morrow,  leav- 
ing him,  at  the  same  time,  in  payment,  a  massive  gold  chain 
of  much  value,  which  he  wore  round  his  neck.^ 

Great  was  the  amazement  of  the  good  citizens  of  St.  Jago, 
when,  at  dawn,  they  saw  that  the  fleet,  which  they  knew  was  so 
ill  prepared  for  the  voyage,  had  left  its  moorings  and  was  busily 
getting  under  way.  The  tidings  soon  came  to  the  ears  of  his 
Excellency,  who,  springing  from  his  bed,  hastily  dressed  him- 
self, mounted  his  horse,  and,  followed  by  his  retinue,  galloped 
down  to  the  quay.  Corids,  as  soon  as  he  described  their  ap- 
proach, entered  an  armed  boat,  and  came  within  speaking  dis- 
tance of  the  shore.  "  And  is  it  thus  you  part  from  me  !  "  ex- 
claimed Velasquez  ;  "  a  courteous  way  of  taking  leave,  truly  !  " 
**  Pardon  me,"  answered  Cortes,  "  time  presses,  and  there  are 
some  tilings  that  should  be  done  before  they  are  even  thought 
of.  Has  your  Excellency  any  commands  ?  "  But  the  mortified 
governor  had  no  commands  to  give  ;  and  Cortes,  politely  waving 
his  hand,  returned  to  his  vessel,  and  the  little  fleet  instantly 
made  sail  for  the  port  of  Macaca,  about  fifteen  leagues  distant. 

vel  honoris  \t\  lucri  rediturum."  I3e  Rebus  Gestis,  MS. — Bcrnal  Diar, 
Hist,  de  la  Coiiqnista,  cajx  19.  —  Las  Casas,  Hist,  de  las  Iiulias,  MS., 
cap.  114. 

'  "  Cortes  no  avia  menester  mas  i^ara  entendello  de  mirar  el  gesto  a  Diego 
Velasquez  scgum  su  astuta  viveza  y  niundanasabiduria."  Hist,  de  las  Indias, 
MS.,  cap.   1 14. 

'  Las  Casas  hafi  the  story  from  Cortes'  own  mouth.  Hist,  de  las  India*, 
MS.,  cap.  114. — Gomara,  Cr6nica,  cap.  7. — De  Rebus  Gestis,  MS. 


i84 


DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO. 


(November  i8,  1518.)  Velasquez  rode  back  to  his  house  t« 
digest  his  chagrin  as  he  best  might;  satisfied,  probably,  that  he 
had  made  at  least  two  blunders  ;  one  in  appointing  Cortds  to 
the  command, — the  other  in  attempting  to  deprive  him  of  it. 
For,  if  it  be  true,  that,  by  giving  our  confidence  by  halves,  we 
can  scarcely  hope  to  make  a  friend,  it  is  equally  true,  that,  by 
withdrawing  it  when  given,  we  shall  make  an  enemy.* 

This  clandestine  departuie  of  Cones  has  been  severely  criti- 
cised by  sorr»e  writers,  especially  by  Las  Casas.°  Yet  much 
mav  be  urged  in  vindication  of  his  conduct.  He  had  been 
appointed  to  the  command  by  the  voluntary  act  of  the  governor, 
and  this  had  been  fully  ratified  by  the  authorities  of  Hispani- 
ola.  He  had  at  once  devoted  all  his  resources  to  the  under- 
taking, incurring,  indeed,  a  heavy  debt  in  addition.  He  was 
now  to  be  deprived  of  his  commission,  without  any  misconduct 
having  been  alleged  or  at  least  proved  against  him.  Such  an 
event  must  overwhelm  him  in  irretrievable  ruin,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  friends  from  whom  he  had  so  largely  borrowed  and  the 
followers  who  had  embarked  their  fortunes  in  the  expedition  on 
the  faith  of  his  commanding  it.  There  are  few  persons,  prob- 
ably, who,  under  these  circumstances,  would  have  felt  called 
tamely  to  acquiesce  in  the  sacrifice  of  their  hopes  to  a  ground- 
less and  arbitrary  whim.  The  most  to  have  been  expected  from 
Cortes  was,  that'he  should  feel  obliged  to  provide  faithfully  for 
the  interests  of  his  employer  in  the  conduct  of  the  enterprise. 
How  far  he  felt  the  force  of  this  obligation  will  appear  in  the 
sequel. 

From  Macaca,  where  Cortes  laid  in  such  stores  as  he  could 
obtain  from  the  royal  farms,  and  which,  he  said,  he  considered 
as  "  a  loan  from  the  king,"  he  proceeded  to  Trinidad  ;  a  more 
considerable  town,  on  the  southern  coast  of  Cuba.  Here  he 
landed,  and,  erecting  his  standard  in  front  of  his  quarters,  made 
proclamation,  with  liberal  offers  to  all  who  would  join  the  ex- 
pedition.    Volunteers    came    in   daily,  and    among   them  more 

*  Las  Casas.  Hist,  de  las  Inclias,  MS.,  cap.  114.— Herrera,  Hist,  Genera], 
dec.  2,  lib.  3,  cap.  12. 

Solis,  who  follows  Bernal  Diaz  is  saying  that  Cortes  parted  openly  and 
amicably  from  Velasquez,  seems  to  consider  it  a  great  slander  on  the  char- 
acter of  the  former  to  suppose  that  he  wanted  to  break  with  the  governor  so 
soon,  when  he  had  received  so  little  provocation.  (Conquista,  lib.  i,  cap. 
10.)  But  it  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  Cortes  intended  a  rupture  with 
his  employer  by  this  clandestine  movement;  but  only  to  secure  himself  in  the 
command.  At  all  events,  the  text  conforms  in  every  particular  to  the  state- 
ment of  Las  Casas,  who,  as  he  knew  both  the  parties  well,  and  resided  on  th« 
island  at  the  time,  had  ample  means  of  information. 

^  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS.,  cap.  114. 


EQUIPMENT  OF  HIS  FLEET.  185 

than  a  hundred  of  Giijalva's  men,  just  returned  from  their  voy- 
age, and  willing  to  follow  up  the  discovery  under  an  enterpris- 
ing leader.  The  fame  of  Cortds  attracted,  also,  a  number  of 
cavaliers  of  family  and  distinction,  some  of  whom,  having 
accompanied  Grijalva,  brought  much  information  valuable  for 
the  present  expedition.  Among  these  hidalgos  may  be  men- 
tioned Pedro  de  Alvarado  and  his  brothers,  Cristdval  de  Olid, 
Alonso  de  Avila,  Juan  Velasquez  de  Leon,  a  near  relation  of 
the  governor,  Alonso  Hernandez  de  Puertecarrero,  and  Gonzalo 
de  Sandoval, — all  of  them  men  who  took  a  most  important  part 
in  the  Conquest.  Their  presence  was  of  gr^at  moment,  as  giving 
consideration  to  the  enterprise  ;  and,  when  they  entered  the 
litile  camp  of  the  adventurers,  the  latter  turned  out  to  welcome 
them  amidst  lively  strains  of  music  and  joyous  salvos  of  artil- 
lery. 

C'orte's'  meanwhile  was  active  in  purchasing  mJl-itary  stores 
and  provisions.  Learning  that  a  trading  vessel  laden  with 
grain  and  other  commodities  for  the  mines  was  off  the  coast,  he 
ordered  out  one  of  his  caravels  to  seize  her  and  bring  her  into 
port.  He  paid  the  master  in  bills  for  both  cargo  and  ship,  and 
even  persuaded  this  man,  named  Seldeno,  who  was  wealthy,  to 
join  his  fortunes  to  the  expedition.  He  also  despatched  one  of 
his  officers,  Diego  de  Ordaz,  in  quest  of  another  ship,  of  which 
he  had  tidings,  with  instructions  to  seize  it  in  like  manner,  and 
to  meet  him  with  it  ofif  Cape  St.  Antonio,  the  westerly  point 
of  the  island."  By  this  he  effected  another  object,  that  of  get- 
ting rid  of  Ordaz,  who  was  one  of  the  governor's  household,  and 
an  inconvenient  spy  on  his  own  actions. 

While  thus  occupied,  letters  from  Velasquez  were  received  by 
the  commander  of  Trinidad,  requiring  him  to  seize  the  person 
of  Cortes  and  to  detain  him,  as  he  had  been  deposed  from  the 
command  of  the  lieet,  which  was  given  to  another.  This  func- 
tionary communicated  his  instructions  to  the  principal  officers  in 
the  expedition,  who  counselled  him  not  to  make  the  at'empt,  as 
it  would  undoubtedly  lead  to  a  commotion  among  the  soldiers, 
that  might  end  in  laying  the  town  in  ashes.  Verdugo  thought  it 
prudent  to  conform  to  this  advice." 

As  Cortds  was  willing  to  strengthen  himself  by  still  further 
reinforcements,  he  ordered  Alvarado  with  a  small  body  of  men 

'  I^s  Casas  had  this,  also,  from  the  lips  of  Cortes  in  later  life.  "  Todo 
esto  me  dixo  el  mismo  Cortes,  con  otras  cosas  c^erca  dello  despues  de  Mar- 
que?;    reindo  y  mofando  ^  conestas  formales  palabras,  y^    la  vii  fet 

ttndube  par  alH conto  un  f^entil  cosario.''''     Hist,  dc  las  Indias,  MS.,  cap.   115. 

"De  Rebus  Gestis,  MS. — Gomara,  Cr6nica,  cap.  8. — Las  Casas,  Hist,  de 
Im  Indias,  MS.,  cap,  114,  115. 


1 8  6  DISCO  VER  Y  OF  MEXICO. 

to  march  across  the  country  to  the  Havana,  while  he  himself 
would  sail  round  the  westerly  point  of  the  island,  and  meet  him 
there  with  the  squadron.  In  this  port  he  again  displayed  his 
standard,  making  the  usual  proclamation.  He  caused  all  the 
large  guns  to  be  brought  on  shore,  and,  with  the  small  arms  and 
crossbows,  to  be  put  in  order.  As  there  was  abundance  of  cotton 
raised  in  ihis  neighborhood,  he  had  the  jackets  of  the  soldiers 
thickly  quilted  with  it,  for  a  defence  against  the  Indian  arrows, 
from  which  the  troops  in  the  former  expeditions  had  grievously 
suffered.  He  distributed  his  men  into  eleven  companies,  each 
under  the  command  of  an  experienced  officer  ;  and  it  was 
observed,  that,  although  several  of  the  cavaliers  in  the  service 
were  the  personal  friends  and  even  kinsmen  of  Velasquez,  he 
appeared  to  treat  them  all  with  perfect  confidence. 

His  principal  standard  was  of  black  velvet  embroidered  with 
gold,  and  emblazoned  with  a  red  cross  amidst  flames  of  blue  and 
white,  with  this  motto  in  Latin  beneath;  ''  Friends,  let  us  follow 
the  Cross  ;  and  under  this  sign,  if  we  have  faith,  we  shall  con- 
quer." He  now  assumed  more  state  in  his  own  person  and  way 
of  living,  introducing  a  greater  number  of  domestic  and  officers 
into  his  household,  and  placing  it  on  a  footing  becoming  a  man 
of  high  station.  This  state  he  maintained  through  the  rest  of 
his  life,^ 

Corte's  at  this  time  was  thirty-three,  or  perhaps  thirty-foui 
years  of  age.  In  stature  he  was  rather  above  the  middle  size. 
His  complexion  was  pale  ;  and  his  large  dark  eye  gave  an  ex- 
pression of  gravity  to  his  countenance,  not  to  have  been  ex- 
pected in  one  of  his  cheerful  temperament.  His  figure  was 
slender,  at  least  until  later  life  ;  but  his  chest  was  deep,  his 
shoulders  broad,  his  frame  muscular  and  well  proportioned.  It 
presented  the  union  of  agility  and  vigor  which  qualified  him  to 
excel  in  fencing,  norsemanship,  and  the  other  generous  exercises 
of  chivalry.  In  his  diet  he  was  temperate,  careless  of  what  he 
ate,  and  drinking  little  :  while  to  toil  and  privation  he  seemed 
perfectly  indifferent.  His  dress,  for  he  did  not  disdain  the  im- 
pression produced  by  such  adventitious  aids,  was  such  as  to  set 
off  his  handsome  person  to  advantage  ;  neither  gaudy  nor  strik- 
ing, but  rich.  He  wore  few  ornaments,  and  usually  the  same  ; 
but  those  w^ere  of  great  price.  His  manners,  frank  and  soldier- 
like, concealed  a  most  cool  and  calculating  spirit.  With  his 
gayest    humor  there    mingled  a  settled  air   of  resolution,  which 

8  Bernal  Diaz,  Ilist.  de  la  Conquistn,  cap.  24. — De  Rebus  Gestis,  MS. — 
Gomara,  Cronica,  cap.  8 — Las  Casas,  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS.,  cap.  I15. 

The  legend  on  the  standard  was,  doubtless,  suggested  by  that  on  the  Itf 
kttrum. — the  sacred  banner  of  Constantinc. 


STRENGTH  OF  HFS  ARMAMENT.  igy 

made  those  who  approached  him  feel  they  must  obey  ;  and  which 
infused  something  like  awe  into  the  attachment  of  his  most 
devoted  followers.  Such  a  combination,  in  which  love  was 
tempered  by  authority,  was  the  one  probably  best  calculated  to 
inspire  devotion  in  the  rough  and  turbulent  spirits  among  whom 
his  lot  was  to  be  cast. 

The  character  of  Cones  seemed  to  have  undergone  some 
change  with  change  of  circumstances  ;  or,  to  speak  more  correct- 
ly, the  new  scenes  in  which  he  was  placed  called  forth  qualities 
which  before  lay  dormant  in  his  bosom.  There  are  some  hardy 
natures  that  require  the  heats  of  excited  action  to  untold  their 
energies  ;  like  the  plants,  which,  closed  to  the  mild  influence  of 
a  temperate  latitude,  come  to  their  full  growth,  and  give  forth 
their  fruits,  only  in  the  burning  atmosphere  of  the  tropics. — Such 
is  the  portrait  left  to  us  by  his  contemporaries  of  this  remarkable 
man  ;  the  instrument  selected  by  Providence  to  scatter  terror 
among  the  barbarian  monarchs  of  the  Western  World,  and  lay 
their  empires  in  the  dust.^ 

Before  the  preparations  were  fully  completed  at  the  Havana, 
the  commander  of  the  place,  Don  Pedro  Barba,  received  de- 
spatches from  Velasquez  ordering  him  to  apprehend  Cortds,  and 
to  prevent  the  departure  of  his  vessels ;  while  another  epistle 
from  the  same  source  was  delivered  to  Cortes  himself,  requesting 
him  to  postpone  his  voyage  till  the  governor  could  communicate 
with  him,  as  he  proposed,  in  person.  "  Never,"  exclaimed  Las 
Casas,  "did  I  see  so  little  knowledge  of  affairs  shown,  as  in  this 
letter  of  Diego  Velasquez, — that  he  should  have  imagined,  that 
a  man,  who  had  so  recently  put  such  an  affront  on  him,  would 
defer  his  departure  at  his  bidding  !  "  ^"  It  was  indeed,  hoping  to 
stay  the  flight  of  the    arrow  by  a  word,  after  it  had  left  the  bow. 

The  Captain-General,  however,  during  his  short  stay,  had 
entirely  conciliated  the  good-will  of  Barba,  And,  if  that  officer 
had  had  the  inclination,  he  knew  he  had  not  the  power,  to  en- 
force his  principal's  orders,  in  the  face  of  a  resolute  soldier}', 
incensed  at  this  ungenerous  persecution  of  their  commander, 
and  "  all  of  whom,"  in  the  words  of  the  honest  chronicler  who 
bore  part  in  the  expedition,  "  officers  and  privates,  would  have 
cheerfully  laid  down  their  lives  for  him.""  Barba  contented 
himself,  therefore,  with   explaining  to  Velasquez  the  impractica- 

*  T!;e  most  minute  notices  of  the  person  and  habits  of  Cortes  are  to  be 
gather'd  from  the  narrative  of  the  old  c.ivalier  llernal  Diaz,  who  served  so 
lonfr  under  him,  and  from  fiomara,  the  general's  chuplai''  See  in  particular 
the  last  chajjter  of  G(jniara'.s  Cronica,  and  cap.  203  of  ..e  Hist,  de  la  Con- 
quista. 

''^  I, as  Casas.  Hist^  dr-  las  Tndias,  MS.,  cap.  115. 

^^   Berna!  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  caj).  24 


1 88  DISCO  VEK  Y  OF  MEXICO. 

bility  of  the  attempt,  and  at  the  same  time  endeavored  to  tran« 
quillize  his  apprehensions  by  asserting  his  own  confidence  in  the 
fidelity  of  Cortds.  To  this  the  latter  added  a  communication  of 
his  own,  couched  "  in  the  soft  terms  he  knew  so  well  how  to 
use,"  ^  in  which  he  implored  his  Excellency  to  rely  on  his  de- 
votion to  his  interests,  and  concluded  with  the  comfortable  as- 
surance that  he  and  the  whole  fleet,  God  willing,  would  sail  on 
the  following  morning. 

Accordingly  on  the  loth  of  February,  15 19,  the  little  squadron 
got  under  way,  and  directed  its  course  towards  Cape  St.  Antonio, 
the  appointed  place  of  rendezvous.  When  all  were  brought  to- 
gether, the  vessels  were  found  to  be  eleven  in  number  ;  one  of 
them,  in  which  Cortds  himself  went,  was  of  a  hundred  tons' 
burden,  three  others  were  from  seventy  to  eighty  tons  ;  the  re- 
mainder were  caravels  and  open  brigantines.  The  whole  was 
put  under  the  direction  of  Antonio  de  Alaminos,  as  chief  pilot  ; 
a  veteran  navigator,  who  had  acted  as  pilot  to  Columbus  in  his 
last  voyage,  and  to  Cordova  and  Grijalva  in  the  former  expedi- 
tions to  Yucatan, 

Landing  on  the  Cape  and  mustering  his  forces,  Cortds  found 
they  amounted  to  one  hundred  and  ten  mariners,  five  hundred 
and  fifty-three  soldiers,  including  thirty-two  crossbowmen,  and 
thirteen  arquebusiers,  besides  two  hundred  Indians  of  the  island. 
and  a  few  Indian  women  for  menial  offices.  He  was  provided 
with  ten  heavy  guns,  four  lighter  pieces  called  falconets,  and 
with  a  good  supply  of  ammunition.^''  He  had  besides  sixteen 
horses.  They  were  not  easily  procured  ;  for  the  difficulty  of 
transporting  them  across  the  ocean  in  the  flimsy  craft  of  that 
day  made  them  rare  and  incredibly  dear  in  the  Islands."     But 

^2  Ibid.,  loc.  cit. 

1^  Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  26. 

There  is  some  discrepancy  among  authorities,  in  regard  to  the  numbers  ot 
the  army.  The  letter  from  Vera  Cruz,  which  should  have  been  exact,  speaks 
in  round  terms  of  only  four  hundred  soldiers.  (Carta  de  Vera  Cruz,  MS.) 
Velasquez  himself,  in  a  communication  to  the  Chief  Judge  of  Hispaniola, 
states  the  number  at  six  hundred.  (Carta  de  Diego  Velasquez  al  Lie.  Fig- 
ueroa,  MS.;  I  have  adopted  the  estimates  of  Bernal  Diaz,  who,  in  his  long 
service,  seems  to  have  become  intimately  acquainted  with  every  one  of  his 
comrades,  their  persons,  and  private  history. 

^^  Incredibly  dear  indeed,  since,  from  the  statements  contained  in  the  de- 
positions at  Villa  .Segura,  it  appears  that  the  cost  of  the  horses  for  the  ex- 
pedition was  from  four  to  five  hundred  pesos  de  oro  each  ?  "  .Si  saben  que  de 
caballos  que  el  dicho  Seiior  Capitan  General  Hernando  Cortes  ha  comprado 
para  servir  en  la  dicha  Conquista,  que  son  diez  e  echo,  que  le  han  costado  a 
^uatrocientos  cinquenta  e  a  quinientos  pesos  ha  pagado,  e  que  deve  mas  de 
ocho  mil  pesos  de  oro  dellos.*'  (Probanza  en  Villa  .Segura,  MS.)  The  esti- 
mation of  these  hordes  is  sufficiently  shown  by  the  minute  information  Bernal 
Diaz  has  thought  proper  to  give  of  everv  one  of  them  ;  minute  enoiigh  for  thf; 
pages  of  a  s))ortiiig  calendar.      See  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  23. 


STREXGTII  OF  HIS  ARMAMENT.  ig^ 

Cortds  rightfully  estimated  the  importance  of  cavalry,  however 

small  in  number,  both  for  their  actual  service  in  the  field,  and 
for  striking  terror  into  the  savages.  With  so  paltry  a  force  did 
he  enter  on  a  Conquest  which  even  his  stout  heart  must  have 
shrunk  from  attempting  with  such  means,  had  he  but  foreseen 
half  its  real  ditiiculties  ! 

Before  embarking,  Cortes  addressed  his  soldiers  in  a  short 
but  animated  harangue.  He  told  them  that  they  were  about  to 
enter  on  a  noble  enterprise,  one  that  would  make  their  name 
famous  to  after  ages.  He  was  leading  them  to  countries  more 
vast  and  opulent  than  any  yet  visited  by  Europeans.  "  I  hold 
out  to  you  a  glorious  prize,"  continued  the  orator,  "  but  it  is  to 
be  won  by  incessant  toil.  Great  things  are  achieved  only  by 
great  exertions,  and  glory  was  never  the  reward  of  sloth, ^^  If  I 
have  labored  hard  and  staked  my  all  on  this  undertaking,  it  is 
for  the  love  of  that  renown,  which  is  the  noblest  recompense  of 
man.  But,  if  any  among  you  covet  riches  more,  be  but  true  to 
me,  as  I  will  be  true  to  you  and  to  the  occasion,  and  I  will  make 
you  masters  of  such  as  our  countrymen  have  never  dreamed  of! 
You  are  few  in  number,  but  strong  in  resolution  ;  and,  if  this 
does  not  falter,  doubt  not  but  that  the  Alinigh;y,  who  has  never 
deserted  the  Spaniard  in  his  contest  with  the  infidel,  will  shield 
you,  though  encompassed  by  a  cloud  of  enemies  ;  for  your  csuse 
is  z  Just  cause,  and  you  are  to  fight  under  the  banner  of  the  Cross. 
Go  forward,  then,"  he  concluded,  "  with  alacrity  and  confidence, 
and   carry  to  a  glorious  issue  the  work  so  auspiciously  begun."  i6 

The  rough  eloquence  of  the  general,  touching  the  various 
chords  of  ambition,  avarice  and  religious  zeal,  sent  a  thrill 
through  the  bosoms  of  his  martial  audience  ;  and  receiving  it 
with  acclamations,  thev  seemed  eager  to  press  forward  under  a 
chief  who  was  to  lead  them  not  so  much  to  battle,  as  to  triumph. 

Cortes  was  well  satisfied  to  find  his  own  enthusiasm  so  largely 
shared  by  his  followers.  Mass  was  then  celebrated  with  the  so- 
lemnities usual  with  the  Spanish  navigators,  when  entering  on 
their  vovages  of  discovery.  The  fleet  was  placed  under  the  im- 
mediate protection  of  St.  Peter,  the  patron  saint  of  Corte's ;  and 

'5  "  To  vos  propongo  grandes  premios.  mas  embueltos  en  grandes  trabajos 
pero  la  virtud  no  quiere  ociosidad."  (Goniara,  Crunica,  cap.  9.)  It  is  ihe 
thought  so  finely  exjjressed  by  Thomson: 

"  Ydt  sluggard'k  brow  the  laurel  nevtr  prows  ; 
Renown  is  not  the  child  of  indolent  re'"^"^c." 

*•  The  text  is  a  very  condensed  abridcjement  of  th'  original  speechof  Cort^ 
-—or  of  his  chaplain,  as  the  case  may  be.  See  it,  in  Gomara,  Cronica, 
•up.  9- 


190 


DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO. 


weighing  anchor,  took  its  departure  on  the  eighteenth  day  of 
February,   15 19,  for  the  coast  of  Yucatan.^' 

^'  Las  Casas,  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS.,  cap.  115.— Gotnara,  Cronica,  cap. 
10. — De  Rebus  Gestis,  MS. 

"  Tantus  fuit  armorum  apparatus,"  exclaims  the  author  of  the  last  work, 
"quo  alterum  terrarum  orbem  bellis  Cortesius  concutit;  extam  parvis  opibu3 
tantum  imperium  Caroio  facit;  aperitque  omnium  primus  Hispanse  genti 
Hispaniam  novam  I  "  The  author  of  this  work  is  unknown.  It  seems  to 
have  been  part  of  a  great  compilation  "  De  Orbe  Novo,"  written,  probably, 
on  the  plan  of  a  series  of  biographical  sketches,  as  the  introduction  speaks  of 
a  life  of  Columbus  preceding  this  of  Cortes.  It  was  composed,  as  it  states, 
while  many  of  the  old  Conquerors  were  still  surviving,  and  is  addressed  to 
the  son  of  Cortes.  The  historian,  therefore,  had  ample  means  of  verifying 
the  truth  of  his  own  statements,  although  they  too  often  betray,  in  his  par- 
tiality for  his  hero,  the  influence  of  the  patronage  under  which  the  work  was 
produced.  It  runs  into  a  prolixity  of  detail,  which,  however  tedious,  has 
its  uses  in  a  contemporary  document.  Unluckily,  only  the  first  book  was 
finished,  or,  at  least,  has  survived:  terminating  with  the  events  of  this 
Chapter.  It  is  written  in  Latin,  in  a  pure  and  perspicuous  style  ;  and  is  con- 
jectured with  some  plausibility  to  be  the  work  of  Calvet  de  Estrella,  Chron- 
icler of  the  Indies.  The  original  exists  in  the  Archives  of  Simancas,  where 
it  was  discovered  and  transcribed  by  Munoz,  from  whose  copy  that  in  my 
Hbrary  wa    taken. 


FOVAG£   TO  COZUMEL.  igr 


CHAPTER   IV. 

Voyage  to  Cozumel. — Conversion'  of  the  Natives. — Jer6n- 
iMo  dil  Aguilar. — Army  arrives  at  Tabasco. — Great 
Battle  with  the  Indians. — Christianity  introduced. 

Orders  were  given  for  the  vessels  to  keep  as  near  together  as 
possible,  and  to  take  the  direction  of  the  capitania,  or  admiral's 
ship,  which  carried  a  beacon  light  in  the  stern  during  the  night. 
But  the  weather,  which  had  been  favorable,  changed  soon  after 
their  departure,  and  one  of  those  tempests  set  in  which  at  this 
season  are  often  found  in  the  latitudes  of  the  West  Indies.  It 
fell  with  terrible  force  on  the  little  navy,  scattering  it  far  asunder, 
dismantling  some  of  the  ships,  and  driving  them  all  considerably 
south  of  their  proposed  destination. 

Cortds,  who  had  lingered  behind  to  convoy  a  disabled  vessel, 
reached  the  island  of  Cozumel  last.  On  landing,  he  learned  that 
one  of  his  captains,  Pedro  de  Alvarado,  had  availed  himself  of 
the  short  time  he  had  been  there,  to  enter  the  temples,  rifle  them 
ot  their  few  ornaments,  and  by  his  violent  conduct,  so  far  to 
terrify  the  simple  natives,  that  they  had  fled  for  refuge  into  the 
interior  of  the  island.  Cortes,  highly  incensed  at  these  rash  pro- 
ceedings, so  contrary  to  the  policy  he  had  proposed,  could  not 
refrain  from  severely  reprimanding  his  officer  in  the  presence  of 
the  army.  He  commanded  two  Indian  captives,  taken  by  Al- 
varado, to  be  brought  before  him,  and  explained  to  them  the 
pacific  purpose  of  his  visit.  This  he  did  through  the  assistance 
of  his  interpreter,  Melchorejo,  a  native  of  Yucatan,  who  had 
been  brought  back  by  Grijalva,  and  who,  during  his  residence  in 
Cuba,  had  picked  up  some  acquaintance  with  the  C'astilian,  He 
then  dismissed  them  loaded  wiih  presents,  and  with  an  invitation 
to  their  countrymen  to  return  to  their  homes  without  fear  of  fur- 
ther annoyance.  This  humane  policy  succeeded.  The  fugitives, 
reassured,  were  not  slow  in  coming  back ;  and  an  amicable  in- 
tercourse was  established,  in  which  Spanish  cutlery  and  trinkets 
were  exchanged  for  the  gold  ornaments  of  the  natives  ;  a  traffic 
in  which  each  party  congratulated  itself — a  philosopher  might 
think  with  equal  reason — on  outwitting  the  other. 


192 


DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO. 


The  first  object  of  Cortds  was,  to  gather  tidings  of  the  unfor 
tunate  Christians  who  were  reported  to  be  still  lingering  in  cap- 
tivity on  the  neighboring  continent.  From  some  traders  in  the 
island,  he  obtained  such  a  confirmation  of  the  report,  that  he 
sent  Diego  de  Ordaz  with  two  brigantines  to  the  opposite  coast 
of  Yucatan,  with  instructions  to  remain  there  eight  days.  Some 
Indians  went  as  messengers  in  the  vessels,  who  consented  to 
bear  a  letter  to  the  captives  informing  them  of  the  arrival  of 
their  countrymen  in  Cozumel,  with  a  liberal  ransom  for  their  re- 
lease. Meanwhile  the  general  proposed  to  make  an  excursion 
to  the  different  parts  of  the  island,  that  he  might  give  employ- 
ment to  the  restless  spirits  of  the  soldiers,  and  ascertain  the 
resources  of  the  country. 

It  was  poor  and  thinly  peopled.  But  everywhere  he  recognized 
the  vestiges  of  a  higher  civilization  than  what  he  had  before  wit- 
nessed in  the  Indian  islands.  The  houses  were  some  of  them 
large,  and  often  built  of  stone  and  lime.  He  was  particularly 
struck  with  the  temples,  in  which  were  towers  constructed  of  the 
same  solid  materials,  and  rising  several  stories  in  height.  In 
the  court  of  one  of  these  he  was  amazed  by  the  sight  of  a  cross, 
of  stone  and  lime,  about  ten  palms  high.  It  was  the  emblem  of 
the  God  of  rain.  Its  appearance  suggested  the  wildest  conjec- 
tures, not  merely  to  the  unlettered  soldiers,  but  subsequently  to 
the  European  scholar,  who  speculated  on  the  character  of  the 
races  that  had  introduced  there  the  sacred  symbol  of  Christianity. 
But  no  such  inference,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  could  be  war- 
ranted.' Yet  it  must  be  regarded  as  a  curious  fact,  that  the 
Cross  should  have  been  venerated  as  the  object  of  religious  wor- 
ship both  in  the  New  World,  and  in  regions  of  the  Old,  where 
the  light  of  Christianity  had  never  risen.^ 

1  See  Appendix,  Part  i,  iVoie  27. 

2  Carta  de  Vera  Cruz,  MS. — Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  25, 
et  seq. — Gomara,  Cronica,  cap.  10,  15. — Las  Casas,  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS., 
lib.  3,  cap.  115. — Herrera,  Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  4,  cap.  6 — Martyr  de 
Insulis  nuper  inventis,  (Coloniae,  1574,)  p.  344. 

While  these  pages  were  passing  through  the  press,  but  not  till  two  years 
after  they  were  written,  Mr.  .Stephens'  important  and  interesting  volumes 
appeared,  containing  the  account  of  his  second  expedition  to  Yucatan.  In 
the  latter  part  of  the  work,  he  describes  his  visit  to  Cozumei,  now  an  unin- 
habited island  covered  with  impenetrable  forests.  Near  the  shore  he  saw 
the  remains  of  ancient  Indian  structures,  which  he  conceives  may  possibly 
have  been  the  same  that  met  the  eyes  of  Grijalva  and  Cortes,  and  which  sug- 
gest to  him  some  important  inferences.  He  is  led  into  further  reflections  on 
the  existence  of  the  cross  as  a  symbol  of  worship  among  the  islanders.  (In- 
cidents of  Travel  in  Yucatan,  (New  York,  1843,)  'v°l-  ^I-  chap.  20.)  As  the 
discussion  of  these  matters  would  lead  me  too  far  from  the  track  of  our  narra- 
tive, I  shall  take  occasion  to  return  to  them  hereafter,  when  I  treat  of  tbe 
architectural  remains  of  the  country. 


CONVERSION  OF  THE  NATIVES. 


193 


The  first  objert.  cf   Cortds  was  to  reclaim  the  natives  from 
their  gross  idolatry  and  to  substitute  a  purer  form  of  worship. 
In   accomplishing  this   he  was  prepared   to  use  force,  if  milder 
measures  should   be  ineffectual.     There  was   nothing  which   the 
Spanish  government  had    more  earnestly  at   heart,  than  the  con- 
version of   the    Indians.      It  forms  the  constant   burden  of  their 
instructions,  and  gave  to  the  military  expeditions  in  this  western 
hemisphere  somewhat  of  the  air  of  a  crusade.     The  cavalier  who 
embarked  in  them  entered  fully  into   these   chivalrous  and  de- 
votional  feelings.     No  doubt  was  entertained   of   the  efficacy  of 
conversion,   however   sudden   might    be  the  change,  or  however 
violent  the  means.     The  sword  was  a  good  argument,  when  the 
tongue  failed  ;  and  the  spread  of  Mahometanism  had  shown  that 
seeds   sown   by  the   hand  of   violence,  far  from   perishing  in  the 
ground,  would   spring   up  and   bear  fruit   to  after  time.     If   this 
were  so  in  a   bad   cause,  how  much  more  would  it  be  true  in   a 
good   one.     The  Spanish  cavalier  felt  he   had  a  high  mission  to 
accomplish  as  a  soldier  of  the  Cross.      However  unauthorized  or 
unrighteous  the  war  into  which   he  had  entered  may  seem  to  us, 
to   him   it  was  a   holy  war.      He  was  in  arms   against  the  infidel. 
Not  to  care  for  the  soul  of  his  benighted  enemy  was  to  put  his 
own  in   jeopardy.     The  conversion  of   a  single  soul  might  cover 
a  multitude  of  sins.     It  was  not  for  morals  that  he  was  concerned 
but  for  the  faith.     This  though  understood  in  its  most  literal  and 
limited  sense,  comprehended  the  whole  scheme  of  Christian  mor 
ality.     Whoever  died  in  the  faith,  however  immoral  had  been  his 
life,  might  be  said  to  die  in  the  Lord.     Such  was  the  creed  of  the 
Castilian  knight  of   that  day,  as  imbibed   from  the  preachings  of 
the  pulpit,  from  cloisters  and  colleges  at  home,  from  monks  and 
missionaries  abroad, — from  all  save  one,  whose  devotion,  kindled 
at  a  purer  source,  was  not,  alas  !   permitted    to  send  forth  its 
radiance  far  into  the  thick  gloom  by  which  he  was  encompassed.** 
No   one    partook   more  fully  of   the  feelings    above  described 
than   Hernan  Cortes.      He  was,  in    truth,  the  very  mirror  of  the 
times  in  which  he   lived,  reflecting  its  motley  characteristics,  its 
speculative  devotion  and  practical  license, — but  with  an  intensity 
all  his  own.      He  was  greatly  scandalized  at  the  exhibition  of  the 
idolatrous  practices  of  the  people  of  Cozumel,  though  untainted, 
as   it  would   seem,  with    human   sacrifices.     He   endeavored   to 
persuade  them    to  embrace  a  better  faith,  through  the  agency  of 
two  ecclesiastics  who   attended    the  expedition, — the    licentiate 
Juan  Diaz  and  father  Bartolomd  de  Olmedo.     The  latter  of  these 
godly  men  afforded  the  rare  example — rare  in  any  age — of  the 

"See  the  biographical  sketch  of  the  good  bishop  Las  Casas,  the   '  Protector 
«f  the  Indians,"  in  the  Postcript  at  the  close  of  the  present  Book 


1 94  DISCO  VER  Y  OF  MEXICO. 

union  of  fervent  zeal  wiih  charity,  while  he  beautifully  illustrated 
in  his  own  conduct  the  precepts  which  he  taught.  He  remamed 
with  the  army  through  the  whole  expedition,  and  by  his  wise  an^ 
benevolent  counsels  was  often  enabled  to  mitigate  the  crueltie? 
of  the  Conquerors,  and  to  turn  aside  the  edge  of  the  sword  fronr 
the  unfortunate  natives. 

These  two  missionaries  vainly  labored  to  persuade  the  people 
of  Cozumel  to  renounce  their  abominations,  and  to  allow  the 
Indian  idols,  in  which  the  Christians  recognized  the  true  linea- 
ments of  Satan,*  to  be  thrown  down  and  demolished.  The 
simple  natives,  filled  with  horror  at  the  proposed  profanation, 
exclaimed  that  these  were  the  gods  who  sent  them  the  sunshine 
and  the  storm,  and,  should  any  violence  be  offered,  they  would 
be  sure  to  avenge  it  by  sending  their  lightnings  on  the  heads 
of  its  perpetrators. 

Cort^z  was  probably  not  much  of  a  polemic.  At  all  events, 
he  preferred  on  the  present  occasion  action  to  argument ;  and 
thought  that  the  best  way  to  convince  the  Indians  of  their  error 
was  to  prove  the  falsehood  of  the  prediction.  He  accordingly, 
without  further  ceremony,  caused  the  venerated  images  to  be 
rolled  down  the  stairs  of  the  great  temple,  amidst  the  groans  and 
lamentations  of  the  natives.  An  altar  was  hastily  constructed, 
an  image  of  the  Virgin  and  Child  placed  over  it,  and  mass  was 
performed  by  father  Olmedo  and  his  reverend  companion  for  the 
first  time  within  the  w  ils  of  a  temple  in  New  Spain.  The 
patient  ministers  tried  once  more  to  pour  the  light  of  the  gospel 
into  the  benighted  understandings  of  the  islanders,  and  to  ex- 
pound the  mysteries  of  the  Catholic  faith.  The  Indian  inter- 
preter  must  have  afforded  rather  a  dubious  channel  for  the  trans- 
mission of  such  abstruse  doctrines.  But  they  at  length  found 
favor  with  their  auditors,  who,  whether  overawed  by  the  bold 
bearing  of  the  invaders,  or  convinced  of  the  impotence  of  deities 
that  could  not  shield  their  own  shrines  from  violation,  now  con 
sented  to  embrace  Christianitv.' 

*  "  Fuese  que  el  Demonio  se  les  aparecia  como  es,  y  dejaba  er,  su  imagin- 
acion  aquellas  especies  '.  con  que  seria  primorosa  imitacion  del  artifice  la  feal- 
dad  del  simulacro."     Soli's,  Conquista,  p.  39. 

'Carta  de  Vera  Cruz,  MS. — Gomara,  Cronica,  cap.  13.  —  Herrera,  Hist 
Genera!,  dec.  2,  lib.  4,  cap.  7. — Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  78. 

Las  Casa.s,  whose  enlightened  views  in  religion  would  have  done  honor 
the  present  age,  insists  on  the  futility  of  these  forced  conversions,  by  which 
it  is  propfjsed  in  a  few  days  to  wean  men  from  the  idolatry  which  they  had 
been  taught  to  reverence  from  the  cradle.  "The  only  way  of  doing  this,"  he 
says,  "  is,  by  long,  assiduous,  and  faithful  preaching,  until  the  heathen  shall 
gather  some  ideas  of  the  true  nature  of  the  Deity  and  of  the  doctrines  they 
are  to  embrace.  Above  all,  the  lives  of  the  Christians  should  be  such  as  to 
•xemplify  the  truth  of  these  doctrines,  that,  seeing  this,  the  poor  Indian  maj 


JERONLirO  DE  ACUILAR.  195 

While  Cort^z  was  thus  occupied  with  thfe  triumphs  of  the 
Cross,  he  received  intelligence  that  Ordaz  had  returned  from 
Yucatan  without  tidings  of  the  Spanish  captives.  Though  much 
chagrined,  the  general  did  not  choose  to  postpone  longer  his 
departure  from  Coznamel,  The  fleet  had  been  well  stored  with 
provisions  by  the  friendly  inhabitants,  and,  embarking  his  troops, 
Cortez,  in  the  beginning  of  March,  took  leave  of  its  hospitable 
shores.  The  squadron  had  not  proceeded  far,  however,  before 
a  leak  in  one  of  the  vessels  compelled  them  to  return  to  the 
same  port.  The  detention  was  attended  with  important  conse- 
quences; so  much  so,  indeed  that  a  writer  ot  the  tune  discerns 
in  it  "  a  great  mystery  and  a  mirac'ie.""' 

Soon  after  landing,  a  canoe,  witn  several  Indians  was  seen 
making  its  way  from  the  neigh"boring  shores  of  Yucatan.  On 
reaching  the  island,  one  of  the  men  inquired,  in  broken  Castilian, 
*'  if  he  were  among  Christians  "  ;  and,  being  answered  in  the  af- 
firmative, threw  himself  on  his  knees  and  returned  thanks  to 
Heaven  for  his  delivery.  He  wae  one  of  the  unfortunate  cap- 
tives for  whose  fate  so  much  hitercst  nad  been  felt.  His  name 
was  Jerdnimo  de  Aguilar,  a  native  ot  Ecija,  in  old  Spain,  wher« 
he  had  been  regularly  educated  ior  the  church.  He  had  bee*., 
established  with  the  colony  at  Darien,  and  on  a  voyage  from  that 
place  to  Hispaniola,  eight  years  previous,  was  wrecked  near  the 
coast  of  Yucatan.  He  escaped  with  several  of  his  companions 
in  the  ship's  boat,  where  some  perished  from  hunger  and  expos- 
ure, while  others  were  sacrificed,  on  their  reaching  land,  by  the 
cannibal  natives  of  the  peninsula.  Aguilar  was  preserved  from 
the  same  dismal  fate  by  escaping  into  the  interior,  wheie  lie  fell 
into  the  hands  of  a  powerful  cacique,  who,  though  he  spared  his 
life,  treated  him  at  first  witli  great  rigor.  The  patience  of  the 
captive,  however,  and  his  singular  humility,  touched  the  better 
feelings  of  the  chieftain,  who  would  have  persuaded  Aguilar  to 
take  a  wife  among  his  people,  but  the  ecclesiastic  steadily  re- 
fused, in  obedience  to  his  vows.  This  admirable  cojistancy  ex- 
oiled  the  distrust  of  the  cacique,  who  put  his  virtue  to  a  severe 
test  by  various  temptations,  and  much  of  the  same  sort  as  those 
with   which    the   Devil    is   said    to  have    assailed   St.  Anthony.^ 

glorify  the  I-'ather,  and  acknowledge  him,  who  has  such  worshipi:>ers,  for  the 
true  and  only  God."  See  the  original  rtniarks,  which  1  (|Uote  i>i  exttnso,  as 
a  good  specimen  of  the  Bishojj's  style,  when  kindled  by  his  subject  into  elo- 
quence, in  Appendix  J'art  2,  A'o.  6. 

6  "  Muy  gran  misterio  y  milagro  de  Dios."     Carta  de  Vera  Cruz,  MS. 

''  They  are  enumerated  by  Herrera  with  a  minute  iCss  which  may  claim,  at 
least,  the  merit  of  giving  a  much  higher  notion  of  Aguilar's  virtue  than  th» 
barren  generalities  of  the  text.     (Hist,  tjreneral,  dec.  2,  lib.  4,  cap.  6-S.)     The 


1^6  DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO. 

From  all  these  fiery  trials,  however,  like  his  ghostly  predecessor, 
he  came  out  unscorched.  Continence  is  too  rare  and  difficult  a 
virtue  with  barbarians,  not  to  challenge  their  veneraiion,  and  the 
practice  of  it  has  made  the  reputation  of  more  than  one  saint  in 
the  Old  as  well  as  the  New  World.  Aguilar  was  now  intrusted 
with  the  care  of  his  master's  household  and  his  numerous  wives. 
He  was  a  man  of  discretion,  as  well  as  virtue;  and  his  counsels 
were  found  so  salutary,  that  he  was  consulted  on  all  important 
matters.  In  short,  Aguilar  became  a  great  man  among  the 
Indians. 

It  was  with  much  regret,  therefore,  that  his  master  received 
the  proposals  for  his  return  to  his  countrymen,  to  which  nothing 
but  the  rich  treasure  of  glass  beads,  hawk-bells,  and  other  jewels 
of  like  value,  sent  for  his  ransom,  would  have  induced  him  to 
■consent.  When  Aguilar  reached  the  coast,  there  had  been  so 
such  delay,  that  the  brigantines  had  sailed,  and  it  was  ov/ing  to 
the  fortun?te  return  of  the  fleet  to  Cozumel,  that  he  was  enabled 
to  join  it. 

On  appearing  before  Cort^z,  the  poor  man  saluted  him  in  the 
Indian  style,  by  touching  the  earth  with  his  hand,  and  carrying 
it  to  his  head.  The  commander,  raising  him  up,  affeciionaiely 
embraced  him,  covering  him  at  the  same  time  with  his  own  cloak, 
as  Aguilar  was  simply  clad  in  the  habiliments  of  the  country^ 
somewhat  too  scanty  for  a  European  eye.  It  was  long,  indeed, 
before  the  tastes  which  he  had  acquired  in  the  freedom  of  the 
forest  could  be  reconciled  to  the  constraints  either  of  dress  or 
manners  imposed  by  the  artificial  forms  of  civilization.  Aguilar's 
long  residence  in  the  country  had  familiarized  him  with  the 
Mayan  dialects  of  Yucatan,  and,  as  he  gradually  revived  his 
Castilian,  he  became  of  essential  importance  as  an  interpreter. 
Cortez  saw  the  advantage  of  this  from  the  first,  but  he  could  not 
<ully  estimate  all  the  consequences  that  were  to  flow  from  it.** 

The  repairs  of  the  vessels  being  at  length  completed,  the 
Spanish  cemmander  once  more  took  leave  of  the  friendly  natives 
of  Cozumel,  and  set  sail  on  the  4th  of  March.  Keeping  as  near 
as  possible  to  the  coast  of  Yucatan,  he  doubled  Cape  Catoche, 
and  with  flowing  sheets  swept  down  the  broad  bay  of  Campeachy, 
fringed  with  the  rich  dye-woods  which  have  since  furnished  so 
important  an   article  of  commerce  to  Europe.     He  passed  Po- 

•torv  is  prettily  told  by  Washington  Irving.     Voyages  and  discoveries  of  the 
Companions  of  Columbus,  (London,  1833,)  p.  363,  et  seq. 

**  Caraargo,  Historia  de  Tlascala,  MS. — Oviedo,  His.  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib. 
33,  cap.  I. — Martyr,  De  Insulis,  p.  347. — Bemal  Diaz,  Hist.de  la  Conquista, 
cap.  29. — Carta  de  Vera  Crui,  MS. — Las  Casas,  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS, 
lib.  3,  cap.  115,  116. 


JEKONIMO  DE  AGUILAR.  i^y 

tonchan,  where  Cordova  had  experienced  a  rough  reception  from 
the  uaiives  ;  and  soon  after  reached  the  inou.h  of  the  Rio  de 
Tabasco,  or  Grijaha.  in  which  that  navigator  had  carried  on  so 
lucrative  a  traffic.  Though  mindful  of  the  great  object  of  his 
voyage, — the  visit  to  the  Aztec  territories, — he  v.as  desirous  of 
acquaiming  himself  with  the  resources  of  this  country,  and  de- 
termined to  ascend  the  river  and  visit  the  great  toNvn  on  its 
borders. 

Tne  water  was  so  shallow,  from  the  accumulaiion  of  sand  at 
the  mouth  of  the  stream,  that  the  genem]  was  obliged  to  leave 
the  ships  at  anchor,  and  to  embark  in  the  boats  with  a  part  only 
of  his  forces.  Tiie  banks  were  thickly  studded  with  mangrove 
trees,  tiuir,  wiih  their  roots  sJiooung  up  and  interlacing  one 
ano:her,  formed  a  kind  of  impervious  screen  or  net-work,  behind 
which  the  dark  forms  of  the  natives  were  seen  glancing  to  and 
fro  with  the  most  menacing  looks  and  gestures.  Coriez,  much 
surprised  at  these  unfriendly  demonstrations,  so  unlike  what  he 
had  had  reason  to  expect,  moved  cautiously  up  the  stream. 
Wiien  he  had  reached  an  open  place,  where  a  large  number  of 
Indians  were  assembled,  he  asked,  through  his  interpreter,  leave 
to  land,  explaining  at  the  same  time  his  amicable  intentions. 
But  the  Indians,  brandishing  their  weapons,  answered  only  with 
gestures  of  angry  defiance.  Though  much  chagrined,  Cortez 
thought  it  best  not  to  urge  the  matter  furiher  that  evening,  but 
withdrew  to  a  neighboring  island,  where  he  disembarked  his 
troops,  resol\ed  to  effect  a  landing  on  the  following  morning. 

When  day  broke,  ihe  Spaniards  saw  the  Ojiposiie  banks 
lined  w'uh  a  much  more  numero'is  array  :han  on  the  preceding 
evening,  while  the  canoes  along  the  shore  were  filled  with  bands 
of  armed  warriors,  C^ortes  now  made  his  preparations  for  the 
attaci;.  Me  lirst  landed  a  detachment  of  a  hundred  men  under 
Alonso  de  Avila,  at  a  point  somewhat  lower  down  the  stream, 
sheltered  l^y  a  thick  grove  of  palms,  from  which  a  road,  as  he 
kri'-v.-.  !c-d  t:j  the  town  of  T:i()asco,  gi\'ing  orders  tC'  Ir.s  (ifhcer  to 
mar>  !i  at  once  on  the  place,  while  he  himself  advanced  to  as- 
sault it  in  fror.t.* 

'i'hen  embarking  the  remait;der  t-t  his  troops,  CortC:>  crossed 
the  river  in  face  of  the  enen-v  ;  i)ut,  before  commencing  hos- 
t:]i'.ie-,  that  he  might  "  a'"t  v.  !''h  (--rJre  vegard  i^'  justice,  and  in 
obed:e-:_.     ;o  the   instruciion:  o!"  the  Tloyi!   '"oinici'.''  ''  he  iirst 

*!;eriia!  l)j;iz.  Hist,  de  la  Connuista.  rap.  31. — ('.arta  dc  Vera  Cruz.  MS. 
— Goinara.  (rnnica,  cap.  18. — Las  Casa -.  Ilwt.  cle  las  Iii'lias,  MS.,  lib.  3, 
cap.  i.'S. —  \i,irtvr,  I)i-  Insuiis,  p,  34S. 

There  ar  ■  mi.:  (!iscrc|)ancies  between  the  statements  of  Bernal  Diaz,  and 
the  letter  from  Vera  Cruz;  both  bv  parlies  who  were  present. 

^'  Caru  de  Vera  Cru^,  MS. — Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquitta,  cap.  3I, 


I^g  DISCO  VER  Y  OF  MEXICO. 

caused  proclamation  to  be  made  through  the  interpreter,  that  h* 
desired  only  a  free  passage  for  his  men  ;  and  that  he  proposed 
to  revive  the  friendly  relations  which  had  formerly  subsisted 
between  his  countrymen  and  the  natives.  He  assured  them 
that  if  blood  were  spilt,  the  sin  would  lie  on  their  heads,  and 
that  resistance  would  be  useless,  since  he  was  resolved  at  ail 
hazards  to  take  up  his  quarters  that  night  in  the  town  of 
Tabasco.  This  proclamation,  delivered  in  lofty  tone,  and  duly 
recorded  by  the  notary,  was  answered  by  the  Indians — who 
might  possibly  have  comprehended  one  word  in  ten  of  it — with 
shouts  of  defiance  and  a  shower  of  arrows.^^  Cortes,  having 
now  complied  with  all  the  requisitions  of  a  loyal  cavalier,  and 
shifted  the  responsibility  from  his  own  shoulders  to  those  of 
the  Royal  Council,  brought  his  boats  alongside  of  the  Indian 
canoes.  They  grappled  fiercely  together,  and  both  parties 
were  soon  in  the  water,  which  rose  above  the  girdle.  The 
struggle  was  not  long,  though  desperate.  The  superior 
strength  of  the  Europeans  prevailed,  and  they  forced  the  enemy 
back  to  land.  Here,  however,  they  were  supported  by  their 
countrymen,  who  showered  down  darts,  arrows,  and  blazing  bil- 
lets of  wood  on  the  heads  of  the  invaders.  The  banks  were 
soft  and  slippery,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  the  soldiers  made 
good  their  footing,  Cortds  lost  a  sandal  in  the  mud,  but  con- 
tinued to  fight  barefoot,  with  great  exposure  of  his  person,  as 
the  Indians,  who  soon  singled  out  the  leader  called  to  one  an- 
other, "  Strike  at  the  chief !  " 

At  length  the  Spaniards  gained  the  bank,  and  were  able  to 
come  into  something  like  order,  when  they  opened  a  brisk  fire 
from  their  arquebuses  and  crossbows.  The  enemy,  astounded 
by  the  roar  and  flash  of  the  fire-arms,  of  which  they  had  had  no 
experience,  fell  back,  and  retreated  behind  a  breastwork  of 
timber  thrown  across  the  way.  The  Spaniards,  hot  in  the  pur- 
suit, soon  carried  these  rude  defences,  and  drove  the  Tabascans 

1^"  See,"  exclaims  the  Bishop  of  Chiapa,  in  his  caustic  vein,  "the  reason- 
ableness of  this  requisition,"  or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  the  folly  and  insen- 
sibility of  the  Royal  Council,  who  could  find,  in  the  refusal  of  the  Indians  to 
receive  it,  a  good  pretext  for  war."  (Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS.,  lib.  3,  cap. 
118.)  In  another  place,  he  pronounces  an  animated  invective  against  the  in- 
iquity of  those  who  covered  up  hostilities  under  this  empty  form  of  words, 
the  import  of  which  was  utterly  incomprehensible  to  the  barbarians.  (Ibid., 
lib.  3,  cap.  57.)  The  famous  formula,  used  bv  the  Spanish  conquerors  on 
this  occasion,  was  drawn  up  by  Dr.  Palacios  Reubios,  a  man  of  letters,  and 
A  member  of  the  King's  council.  "  Rut  I  laugh  at  him  and  his  letters,"  ex- 
claims Oviedo,  "if  he  thought  a  word  of  it  could  be  comprehended  by  the 
untutored  Indians  I"  (Hist,  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  29,  cap.  7.)  The  regular 
Manifesto,  requirimiento,  may  be  found  translated  in  the  concluding  pages  o4 
Irving's  "  Voyages  of  the  Companion*  of  Columbus." 


AJ?MV  ARRIVES  A  T  TABASCO. 


199 


before  them  towarc'';  the  town,  where  they  again  took  shelter  be- 
hind their  pahsades. 

Meanwhile  Avila  had  arrived  from  the  opposite  quarter,  and 
the  natives  taken  by  surprise  made  no  further  attempt  at  resist- 
ance, but  abandoned  the  place  to  the  Christians.  They  had 
previously  removed  their  families  and  effects.  Some  provi- 
sions fell  into  the  hands  of  the  victors,  but  iitile  gcid,  '■  a  cir- 
cumstance," says  Las  Casas,  "  whicli  gave  them  no  particular 
sati^^taction." -■'  It  was  a  verv  j^opuU'Us  place.  The  lior.-es 
were  mostl}-of  mud  ;  the  better  son  of  stone  and  lime  ;  affordiijg 
proofs  in  the  inhabitaiits  of  a  sujicrior  rerinenu'!it  to  tliat  found 
in  liie  Islands,  as  their  stoui  resistance  Jiad  given  evicence  of 
supeiior  vaior.-"^ 

Corte.-.  having  thus  made  himself  master  of  the  town,  took 
formal  jjossession  of  it  for  the  crown  of  Castile.  He  gave 
three  cuts  with  his  sword  on  a  large  ceiha  tree,  wliic  h  grew  in 
the  place,  and  jKOclaimed  aloud,  that  he  took  possession  of  ihe 
city  in  the  n:i-ne  and  behalf  of  the  Catholic  sovereigns,  and 
would  maini.aia  and  defend  the  same  with  sword  and  buckler 
against  ali  who  should  gainsay  it.  The  same  \auntin.g  declara- 
tion was  also  made  by  the  soldiers,  and  the  v. hole  Wc-!?  duly  re- 
corded and  attested  bv  the  norarv.  This  was  the  usual  simple. 
but  chivalric  form,  with  which  ihe  S;)anisn  cavaliers  asserted 
the  royal  title  to  the  conquered  territories  in  ilie  N^nv  World. 
It  was  a  good  title,  doubtless,  itgainst  the  claims  of  any  other 
European  pt^tentate. 

The  general  took  \r.^  Ids  quariC'-s  that  night  in  the  cc  urt-yard 
of  the  principal  temj)ie.  Tie  r;;>sled  his  sentinels,  nnd  took  all 
the  precautions  practised  in  witis  witti  a  ci\'i!i>:ed  \c>t.  Indeed, 
there  was  reason  fur  them.  A  susp'icious  silence  seemed  to 
reign  liiruu^li  the  place  aud  iis  ricighborhood  ;  iind  tidings 
were  brougiu  that  the  interpreier,  Mcichorei^.  had  lied.  Icavm* 
his  Spanish  dress  hanging  on  a  ttce.     Cortt's  was  d'squicted  by 

'-  '■  Ihillaronkis  llen.'is  de  iiiai/L-  gallinas  v  vtros  va:-t;!ne:uo.-.  .ro  niiigano, 
de  \o  -jiiij  clIo-  u.-)  ;cscivi(.'ro!>  niuc!.;)  j)la.v_i."      lli.-t.  i"c   las   l.v-'  .  MS.,  i.bi 

'^'^  I^etcr  Marvvr  pives  .a  plowing  picture  ,)f  li.'.-  li.dian  cai'ital.  '"  Ad  (lumi- 
nis  r;:>;uii  ]>ioi'.!i!ui:i  di<  ui'.i  c>s(:  o|);<:dii;n,  (lu.iiiU'.ni  non  ausii;i  thcere  ;  inille 
fjuii)  ;ciitwriitn  |>;is-.uiiiii,  :  it  Alamiiu,:--  naiiclcri!;;,  !_t  li'.jip.unim  ijuiiKjue  ac  vig- 
iiiii  Kiili'iiv.:  s'li'-iKit  -ili'.  isii'i's  t,u!ii'".  f.-ilcninr  el  (•(■'n-hre.  Hortis  inter- 
sc^antur  d'li'iii';.  'I'la-  smik  (:j-/-;'.v'  ,<.',7i//V/.7.r  'i  './I.f  fiihnfutw,  maxiviA  iiiJus- 
tri'i  V -vv/y.'/v/  >:nn  'trfr."  (])(;  rii'-iiiis,  ;■.  5;'))  Witii  his  usual  iiu|uisilive 
spirit.  \m  picaii  (i  all  iln-  parlii  iil.irs  Irum  ihr  ^Id  jjilot  Alamiuos,  and  troiu 
two  .)!  ilic  ui.iccrs  of  C'orli's  \\\v>  rc.isited  .S])aiu  in  the  course  of  that  \<  ar. 
Tabasco  \v?s  in  the  ludphhoihood  of  tho.se  ruined  cities  of  Yucatan,  wliich 
hav"'  ':,;(dv  Ixcr.  the  llicine  of  s'  iniH-li  ^[)(rii!:uion.  'I^he  encoir ''inis  of  M.^w  tyr 
axK  not  so  rcinaikable  as  the  apathy  of  olJicr  contemporary  chro'.iicleio. 


goo  DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO. 

the  desertion  of  this  man,  who  would  not  only  inform  his 
countrymen  of  the  small  number  of  the  Spaniards,  but  dissipate 
any  illusions  that  might  be  entertained  of  their  superior 
natures. 

On  the  following  morning,  as  no  traces  of  the  enemy  were 
visible,  Cortds  ordered  out  a  detachment  under  Alvarado,  and 
another  under  Francisco  de  Lujo,  to  reconnoitre.  The  latter 
officer  had  not  advanced  a  league,  before  he  learned  the  posi- 
tion of  the  Indians,  by  their  attacking  him  in  such  force,  that 
he  was  fain  to  take  shelter  in  a  large  stone  building,  where  he 
was  closely  besieged.  Fortunately  the  loud  yells  of  the  assail- 
ants, like  most  barbarous  nations  seeking  to  strike  terror  by 
their  ferocious  cries,  reached  the  ears  of  Alvarado  and  his  men, 
who,  speedily  advancing  to  the  relief  of  their  comrades,  enabled 
them  to  force  a  passage  through  the  enemy.  Both  parties  re 
treated,  closely  pursued,  on  the  town,  when  Cortes,  marching 
out  to  their  support,  compelled  the  Tabascans  to  retire. 

A  few  prisoners  were  taken  in  this  skirmish.  By  them  Cortds 
found  his  worst  apprehensions  verified.  The  country  was 
everywhere  in  arms.  A  force  consisting  of  many  thousands  had 
assembled  from  the  neighboring  provinces,  and  a  general 
assault  was  resolved  on  for  the  next  day.  To  the  general's  in- 
quiries why  he  had  been  received  in  so  different  a  manner 
from  his  predecessor,  Grijalva,  they  answered,  that  '•  the  con- 
duct of  the  Tabascans  then  had  given  great  offence  to  the 
other  Indian  tribes,  who  taxed  them  with  treachery  and  cowar- 
dice ;  so  that  they  had  promised,  on  any  return  of  the  white 
men,  to  resist  them  in  the  same  manner  that  their  neighbors  had 
done."  '-* 

Cortds  might  now  well  regret  that  he  had  allowed  himself  to 
diviate  from  the  direct  object  of  his  enterprise,  and  lo  become 
entangled  in  a  doubtful  war  which  could  lead  to  no  profitable  re- 
sult. But  it  was  too  late  to  repent.  He  had  taken  the  step, 
and  had  no  alternative  but  to  go  forward.  To  retreat  would 
dishearten  his  own  men  at  the  outset,  impair  their  confidence 
in  him  as  their  leader,  and  confirm  the  arrogance  of  his  foes, 
the  tidings  of  whose  success  might  precede  him  on  his  voyage, 
and  prepare  the  way  for  greater  mortifications  and  defeats.  He 
did  not  hesitate  as  to  the  course  he  was  to  pursue  ;  but,  calling 
his  officers  together,  announced  his  intention  to  give  battle  the 
following  morning.i^ 

1*  Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  31,  32. — Gomara,  Cronica,  cap, 
18. — Las  Casas,  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS.,  lib.  ^,  cap.  118,  1 19.— Ixtliixochid, 
Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  78,  79.  ^ 

^  According  to  Solis,  who  quotes  the  address  o£  Cortes  qw  the  occMioo, 


GREAT  BATTLE  IVJ7'H  THE  INDIANS.  201 

He  sent  back  to  xie  vessels  such  as  were  di.sabled  by  their 
wounds,  and  orde-cd  the  remainder  of  the  forces  to  join  the 
camp.  Six  of  the  heavy  guns  were  also  taken  from  the  ships, 
together  with  all  tlie  horses.  The  animals  were  stiff  and  tor- 
pid from  lor.g  conlinemenc  on  board ;  but  a  few  hours'  exercise 
restored  theiu  to  their  strength  and  usual  spirit.  He  gave  the 
command  of  the  artillery — if  it  may  be  dignified  with  the  name 
— *o  a  :-o!dicr  named  ]\]csa,  who  had  acquired  some  experierice 
as  an  ei-'jineer  in  the  Italian  ware,  I'he  infantry  he  put  under 
the  orders  of  Diego  de  Ordaz,  and  took  charge  of  the  cavalry 
himself.  It  consi^ied  C't  some  ol  tlie  n.ost  valuiiit  gcnilemen  of 
his  little  band,  among  wlioiri  ni;iy  be  meniioned  Alvarado, 
Velas([ucz  dj  Leor,,  Avila,  rr.eriocarrero,  Olid,  Montejo.  Hav- 
ing thus  made  all  the  iiecessar}'  arrangemenis,  and  settled  his 
plan  of  battle,  he  retired  to  rest, — but  not  to  slumber.  His 
feverish  mind,  as  may  well  be  imagined,  was  fihed  witii  anxiety 
for  the  morrow,  which  raigii:  decicie  the  fate  of  his  expedition  ; 
and,  as  was  his  want  on  such  occasions,  he  was  frequently 
observed,  during  the  nighr,  going  the  rounds,  and  visiting  the 
sentinels,  to  see  that  no  one  slept  upon  his  post. 

At  the  first  glim.mering  of  light  lie  mustered  his  army,  and 
declared  his  purpose  not  to  abide,  coopcvl  up  in  the  town,  the 
assault  of  the  enemy,  but  to  march  at  once  against  him.  For 
he  well  knew  that  the  spirits  rise  with  action,  and  that  the  attack- 
ing partv  gathers  a  confidence  from  the  very  movement,  which 
is  not  felt  by  the  one  who  is  passively,  perhaps  anxiously,  await- 
ing the  a.-sault.  The  Indians  were  understood  to  be  encamped 
on  a  level  ground  a  few  miles  distant  from  the  city,  called  the 
I'lain  of  Cei;thi.  The  general  commanded  that:  Ordaz  should 
march  with  the  foot,  including  tiie  artillery,  directly  across  '.he 
country,  and  attack  them  in  front,  while  lie  himself  would  fetch 
a  circuit  v.-ith  the  horse,  and  turn  their  hank  when  thus  engaged, 
or  fall  upon  their  rear. 

These  dispositions  being  compl'^ted,  the  little  army  heard 
mass  and  then  sallied  forrtj  from  the  wooden  wails  of  'J'abasco 
It  was  Lady-day,  the  twenty-fifth  of  March, — hmg  memorable 
in  the  annals  of  New  .Sj'^ain.  Tise  di>tri(  i  around  liu:  tov»'n  was 
checkered  v.-ith  patches  of  maize,  and.  on  the  'nwei  level,  with 
plantntifiTis  (A  cacao, — '--iioph^ing  the  beverage,  and  perhaps  the 
coin  of  the  couiitry,  a.^  in  M',.\ii:n.  These  plr-ntations,  requir- 
ing constant  irrigation,  were  fori  by  ninnerous  canals  and 
re>x  rvcirs  <if  water,  so  that   tiie  crjunf.y  couid   !;;)t  be  traversed 

he  summoned  a  council  of  his  caj^tatns  to  advise  him  as  to  the  course  heshoah^ 
pursue.  (Conquista,  cap.  19.}  It  is  j)ossii)le ;  but  I  find  no  warrant  in  i' 
anywhere. 


f03  DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO. 

without  great  toif  and  difficulty.  It  was,  however,  intersected 
by  a  narrow  path  or  causeway,  over  which  the  cannon  could  be 
dragged. 

The  troops  advanced  more  than  a  league  on  their  laborious 
march,  without  descrying  the  enemy.  The  weather  was  sultry, 
but  few  of  them  were  embarrassed  by  the  heavy  mail  worn  by 
the  European  cavaliers  at  that  period.  Their  cotton  jackets, 
thickly  quilted,  afforded  a  tolerable  protection  against  the  ar- 
rows of  the  Indians,  and  allowed  room  for  the  freedom  and  ac- 
tivity of  movements  essential  to  a  life  of  rambling  adventure  in 
the  wilderness. 

At  length  they  came  in  sight  of  the  broad  plains  of  Ceutla, 
and  beheld  the  dusky  lines  of  the  enemy  stretching,  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach,  along  the  edge  of  the  horizon.  The  Indians 
had  shown  some  sagacity  in  the  choice  of  their  position  ;  and, 
as  the  weary  Spaniards  came  slowly  on,  floundering  through 
the  morass,  the  Tabascans  set  up  their  hideous  battle-cries,  and 
discharged  volleys  of  arrows,  stones,  and  other  missiles,  which 
rattled  like  hail  on  the  shields  and  helmets  of  the  assailants. 
Many  were  severely  wounded,  before  they  could  gain  the  firm 
ground,  where  they  soon  cleared  a  space  for  themselves,  and 
opened  a  heavy  lire  of  artillery  and  musketry  on  the  dense  col- 
umns of  the  enemy,  which  presented  a  fatal  mark  for  the  balls. 
Numbers  were  swept  down  at  every  discharge  ;  but  the  bold  bar- 
barians, far  from  being  dismayed,  threw  up  dust  and  leaves  to 
hide  their  losses,  and,  sounding  their  war  instruments,  shot  off 
fresh  flights  of  arrows  in  return. 

They  even  pressed  closer  on  the  Spaniards,  and,  when  driven 
off  by  a  vigorous  charge,  soon  turned  again,  and,  rolling  back 
like  the  waves  of  the  ocean,  seemed  ready  to  overwhelm  the  lit- 
tle band  by  weight  of  numbers.  Thus  cramped,  the  latter  had 
scarcely  room  to  perform  their  necessary  evolutions,  or  even  to 
work  their  guns  with  effect.^'"' 

The  engagement  had  now  lasted  more  than  an  hour,  and  the 
Spaniards,  sorely  pressed,  looked  with  great  anxiety  for  the 
arrival  of  the  horse, — which  some  unaccountable  impediments 
must  have  detained, — to  relieve  them  from  their  perilous  pos- 
ition. At  this  crisis,  the  furtherest  columns  of  the  Indian  army 
were  seen  to  be  agitated  and  thrown  into  a  disorder  that  rapidly 
spread  through  the  whole  mass.  It  was  not  long  before  the  ears 
of  the  Christians  were  saluted  with  the  cheering  war-cry  of  '*  San 

^''  Las  Casas,  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS.,  lib.  3,  cap.  119. — Gomara,  Cr6nica, 
cap.  19,  20. — Herrera,  Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  4,  cap.  11. — Martyr,  Do 
Insulis  p.  350. — Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  79 — Bernal  Diaz,  \\\%t. 
de  la  Conquista,  cap.  2iZy  3^- — Carta  de  Vera  Cruz,  MS. 


GREAT  BATTLE   WITH  THE  /NDIANS. 


203 


Jtgo  and  San  Pedro  I "  and  they  beheld  the  bright  helmets  and 
swords  of  the  Castilian  chivalry  flashing  back  the  rays  of  the 
morning  sun, as  they  dashed  through  the  ranks  of  the  enemy, 
striking  to  the  right  and  left,  and  scattering  dismay  around  them. 
The  eye  of  faith,  indeed,  could  discern  the  patron  Saint  of  Spain, 
himself,  mounted  on  his  gray  war-horse,  heading  the  rescue  and 
trampling  over  the  bodies  of  the  fallen  infidels  !  '^ 

The  approach  of  Corte's  had  been  greatly  retarded  by  the 
broken  nature  of  the  ground.  When  he  came  up,  the  Indians 
were  so  hotly  engaged,  that  he  was  upon  them  before  they  ob- 
served his  approach.  He  ordered  his  men  to  direct  their  lances 
at  the  faces  of  their  opponents,^^  who,  terrified  at  the  monstrous 
apparition, — for  they  supposed  the  rider  and  the  horse,  which 
they  had  never  before  seen  to  be  one  and  the  same,  ^* — were 
seized  with  a  panic.  Ordaz  availed  himself  of  it  to  command  a 
general  charge  along  the  line,  and  the  Indians,  many  of  them 
throwing  away  their  arms,  fled  without  attempting  further  resist- 
ance. 

Cortes  was  too  content  with  the  victory,  to  care  to  follow  it  up 
by  dipping  his  sword  in  the  blood  of  the  fugitives.  He  drew  off 
his  men  to  a  copse  of  palms  which  skirted  the  place,  and  under 
their  broad  canopy  the  soldiers  offered  up  thanksgivings  to  the 
Almighty  for  the  victory  vouchsafed  them.  The  field  of  battle 
was  made  the  site  of  a  town,  called  in  honor  of  the  day  on  which 
the  action  took  place,  Santa  Maria  da  la  Vitoria,  long  after- 
wards the  capital  of  the  Province.  ^  The  number  of  those  who 
fought  or  fell  in  the  engagement  is  altogether  doubtful.  Nothing, 
indeed,  is  more  uncertain  than  numerical  estimates  of  barbar- 
ians. And  they  gain  nothing  in  probability,  when  they  come,  as 
in  the  present  instance,  from  the  reports  of  their  enemies.  Most 
accounts,  however,  agree  that  the  Indian  force  consisted  of  five 

'■^Ixtlilxochitl.  Hist.  Chich..  MS.,  cap.  79. 

"  Cortes  supposed  it  was  his  own  tutelar  saint,  St.  Peter,"  says  Pizarro  y 
Orllana  ;  ''  but  the  common  and  indubitable  opinion  is,  that  it  was  our  glo- 
rious apostle  St.  James,  the  bulwark  and  safeguard  of  our  nation."  (Varonas 
Lustres,  p.  73.)  "  Sinner  that  I  am,''  exclaimed  honest  Bernal  Dia^,  in  a 
more  sceptical  vein,  "'  it  was  not  permitted  to  me  to  see  either  the  one  or  the 
other  r)f  the  Apostles  on  this  occasion."     Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  caj)  34. 

1'  it  was  the  order — as  the  reader  may  remember — given  by  Caesar  to  hi* 
foUwers  m  his  battle  with  Pompey; 

"  Adrersosque  jubet  ferro  confuiulcrr  vultus." 

LiKAN.  pii...."..^:i,i,  ;-;h.  ;,  v.  575. 

^  "  Equites,"  says  Paolo  Giovio,  '"  umim  intcj-jum  Centaurorum  »pecie 
animal  esse  cxistimarent."  Elogia  Virorum  Ilhistrium,  (Basil,  1696,)  lib.  6^ 
p.  229. 

*^  Clavigero,  .Stor.  del  Messico,  tonj.  III.  p.  'i. 


f04 


DISCO  VEK  V  OF  MEXICO. 


squadrons  of  eight  thousand  men  each.     There  is  more  discrepi 

ancy  as  to  the  number  of  slain,  varying  from  one  to  thirty  tho» 
sand  !  In  this  monstrous  discordance,  the  common  disposition 
to  exaggerate  may  lead  us  to  look  for  truth  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  smallest  number.  The  loss  of  the  Christians  was  incon- 
siderable ;  not  exceednig — if  we  receive  then-  own  report,  prob- 
ably, from  the  same  causes,  much  diminishing  the  truth — two 
killed  and  less  than  a  hundred  wounded!  We  may  readily com« 
prehend  the  feelings  of  the  conquerors,  when  they  declared  that 
"  Heaven  must  have  fought  on  their  side,  since  their  own 
strength  could  never  have  prevailed  against  such  a  mukiiude  of 
enemies  ! "  ^^ 

Several  prisoners  were  taken  in  the  battle,  among  them  two 
chiefs.  Cortes  gave  them  their  liberty,  and  sent  a  message  by 
them  to  their  countrymen,  "  that  he  would  overlook  the  past,  if 
they  would  come  in  at  once,  and  tender  their  submission.  Oth- 
erwise he  would  ride  over  the  land,  and  put  every  living  thing 
in  it,  man,  woman  and  child,  to  the  sword  1 ''  With  this  formid- 
able menace  ringing  in  their  ears,  the  envoys  departed. 

But  the  Tabascans  had  no  relish  for  further  ivostilities.  A 
body  of  inferior  chiefs  appeared  the  next  day,  clad  in  dark 
dresses  of  cotton,  intimating  their  abject  condition,  and  implored 
leave  to  bury  their  dead,  ft  was  granted  by  the  general,  with 
many  assurances  of  his  friendly  disposition  ;  but  at  the  same 
time  he  told  them,  he  expected  their  principal  caciques,  as  he 
would  treat  with  none  other.  These  soon  presented  them- 
selves, attended  by  a  numerous  train  of  vassals,  who  followed 
with  timid  curiosity  to  the  Christian  camp.  Among  their  pro- 
pitiatory gifts  were  twenty  female  slaves,  which,  from  the  char- 
acter of  one  of  them,  proved  of  infinitely  more  consequence 
than  was  anticijDated  by  either  Spaniards  oi  Tabascans.  Com 
fidcnce  was  soon  restored;  and  was  succeeded  by  a  friendly  in- 
tercourse, jnd  the  interchange  of  Spanish  toys  for  the  rude  com- 
modities of  the  country,  articles  of  food,  cotton,  and  a  few  gold 
ornaments  of  little  value.  When  asked  where  the  precious  met- 
al was  procured,  they  pointed  to  the  west  and  answered  "Cul- 
.hua,"  "  Mexico."'  The  Spaniards  saw  this  was  no  place  for 
them  to  traffic,  or  to  tarry  in. — Yet  here,  they  v/ere  not  man^ 

-i  '*  Crcan  Vr.ip.  Reales  AUczas  por  citrto,  que  csta  battalia  fue  vencida 
mas  por  vohintad  de  Dios  que  por  nras,  fucrzas,  porque  para  con  quarente 
mil  liombres  de  guerra,  pocadefensa  fuera  (|uatroziontos  tjue  nostroseramos." 
(Carta  de  Vera  Cruz,  MS. — C(jnKua,  Cronica,  cap.  20 — Bernal  Diaz,  Hi.si. 
de  la  Conqnista,  cap.  35.)  It  is  Las  Casas,  who,  regulating  his  mathematic-,. 
as  usual,  by  his  feelings,  rates  the  Indian  loss  at  the  exorbitant  amount  cited 
jn  the  text.  '' This,"'  he  concludes  dryly,  "was  the  first  preach.ing  of  the 
G<3spel  by  Cortes  in  New  Spain  1 "     Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS.,  lib.  3,  cap.  1 19* 


CHRISTIANITY  INTRODUCED. 


205 


leagues  distant  from  a  potent  and  opulent  city,  or  what  once 
had  been  so,  the  ancient  Palenque.  But  its  glory  may  have  even 
then  passed  away,  and  its  name  have  been  forgotten  by  the  sur- 
rounding nations. 

Before  his  departure  the  Spanish  commander  did  not  omit  to 
provide  for  one  great  object  of  his  expedition,  the  conversion  of 
the  Indians.  He  first  represented  to  the  caciques,  that  he  had 
been  sent  thilher  by  a  powerful  monarch  on  the  other  side  of 
the  water,  to  whom  he  had  now  a  right  to  claim  their  allegiance. 
He  then  caused  the  reverend  fathers  Olmedo  and  Diaz  to  en- 
tighten  their  minds,  as  far  as  possible,  in  regard  to  the  great 
truths  of  revelation,  urging  them  to  receive  these  in  place  of 
their  own  heathenish  abominations.  The  Tabascans,  whose 
perceptions  were  no  doubt  materially  quickened  by  the  discip- 
line they  had  undergone,  made  but  a  faint  resistance  to  either 
proposal.  The  next  day  was  Palm  Sunday,  and  the  general  re- 
solved to  celebrate  their  conversion  by  one  of  those  pompous 
ceremonials  of  the  Church,  which  should  make  a  lasting  impres- 
sion on  their  minds. 

A  solemn  procession  was  formed  of  the  whole  army  with  the 
ecclesiastics  at  their  head,  eacli  soldier  bearing  a  palm-branch 
in  his  hand.  The  concourse  was  swelled  by  thousands  of  In- 
dians of  both  sexes,  who  followed  in  curious  astonishment  at 
the  spectacle.  The  long-  files  bent  their  way  through  the  flowery 
savannas  that  bordered  the  settlement,  to  the  principal  tem- 
ple, where  an  altar  was  raised,  and  the  image  of  the  presiding 
deity  was  deposed  to  make  room  for  that  of  the  Virgin  with  the 
infant  Saviour.  Mass  was  celebrated  b}-  father  Olmedo,  and 
the  soldiers  who  were  capable  joined  in  the  solemn  chant.  The 
natives  listened  in  profound  silence,  and,  if  we  may  believe  the 
chronicler  of  the  event  who  witnessed  it,  were  melted  into  tears  ; 
while  their  hearts  were  penetrated  with  reverential  awe  for  the 
God  of  those  terrible  baings  who  seemed  to  wield  in  their  own 
hand  the  thunder  and  the  lightning.'-^ 

The  Roman  Catholic  communion  has  it  must  be  admitted, 
some  decided  advantages  over  the  Protestant,  for  the  purposes 
of  proselytism.  The  dazzling  pomp  of  its  service  and  its  touch- 
ing appeal  to  the  sensibilities  affect  the  imagination  of  the  rude 
child  of  nature  much  more  powerfully  than  the  cold  abstractions 
of  Protestantism,  which,  addressed  to  the  reason,  demand  a  de- 
gree of  refinement  and  mental  culture  in  the  audi«nce  to  com- 
prehend them.  The  respect,  moreover,  s'lOwn  by  the  Catholic 
for  the  material  representations  of   Ui,mity,  greatly  facilitates 

"Gomara,  Cr6nica,  cap.  z\ .  22. — (.'arta  de  Vera  C!niz.,  NfS. — Martyr,  De 
Insuli*)  p.  351.  \Mb  C'asas,  Mist,  de  las  liuii?-,,  MS.,  nbi  supra. 


a  o6  DISCO  VER  V  OF  MEXICO. 

the  same  object.  It  is  true,  such  representations  are  used  by 
him  only  as  incentives,  not  as  the  objects  of  worship.  But  this 
distinction  is  lost  on  the  savage,  who  finds  such  forms  of  ador- 
ation too  analogous  to  his  own  to  impose  any  great  violence  on 
his  feelings.  It  is  only  required  of  him  to  transfer  his  homage 
from  the  image  of  Quetzalcoail,  the  benevolent  deity  who  walked 
among  men,  to  that  of  the  Virgin  or  the  Redeemer ;  from  the 
Cross,  v.'hich  he  has  worshipped  as  the  emblem  of  the  God  of 
rain,  to  the  same  Cross,  the  symbol  of  salvation. 

These  solemnities  concluded,  Cortes  prepared  to  return  to  his 
ships,  well  satisfied  with  the  impression  made  on  the  new  con- 
verts, and  with  the  conquests  he  had  thus  achieved  for  Castile 
^:  d  Christianity.  The  soldiers,  taking  leave  of  their  Indian 
'<  mds,  entered  the  boats  with  the  palm-branches  in  their  hands, 
ind  descending  the  river  reembarked  on  board  their  vessels, 
which  rode  at  anchor  at  its  mouth.  A  favorable  breeze  was 
blowingj  and  the  little  navy,  opening  its  sails  to  receive  it,  was 
soon  OLi  its  way  again  to  the  golden  shores  of  Mexico. 


VOYAGE  ALOXG   THE  COAST,  M>y 


CHAPTER  V. 

VOYAGK   ALONG  THE   COAST. — DoNA  MaRINA. — SPANIARDS  LAND 

IN  Mexico. — Interview  with  the  Aztecs. 

15^9- 

The  fleet  held  its  course  so  near  the  shore,  that  the  inhabit- 
ants could  be  seen  on  it ;  and,  as  it  swept  along  the  winding 
borders  of  the  Gulf,  the  soldiers,  who  had  been  on  the  former 
expedition  with  Grijalva,  pointed  out  to  their  companions  the 
memorable  places  on  the  coast.  Here  was  the  Rio  de  Alvarado, 
named  after  the  gallant  adventurer,  who  was  present,  also,  in 
this  expedition;  there  the  Rio  de  Vanderas,  in  which  Grivalja 
had  carried  on  so  lucrative  a  commerce  with  the  Mexicans  ;  and 
there  the  Isla  de  los  Sacrijicios,  where  the  Spaniards  first  saw  the 
vestiges  of  human  sacrifice  on  the  coast.  Puertocarrero,  as  he 
listened  to  these  reminiscences  of  the  sailors,  repeated  the  words 
of  the  old  ballad  of  Montesinos,  "  Here  is  France,  there  is  Paris, 
and  there  the  waters  of  the  Duero,"^  &c.  "  But  I  advise  you," 
he  added,  turning  to  Cortes,  "  to  look  out  only  for  the  rich  lands, 
and  the  best  way  to  govern  them."  "  Fear  not,"  replied  his 
commander,  "  if  Fortune  but  favors  me  as  she  did  Orlando,  and 
I  have  such  gallant  gentlemen  as  you  for  my  companions,  I  shall 
understand  myself  very  well."* 

The  fleet  had  now  arrived  off  San  Juan  de  Ulua,  the  island  so 
named  by  Grijalva.  The  weather  was  temperate  and  serene, 
and  crowds  of  natives  were  gathered  on  the  shore  of  the  main 
land,  gazing  at  the  strange  phenomenon,  as  the  vessels  glided 
along  under  easy  sail  on  the  smooth  bosom  of  the  waters.  It 
was  the  evening  of  Thursday  in  Passion  Week.     The  air  came 

1  "  Cata  Fraiicia,  Muiuesino, 
Cita  P^ri^  !s  riiidad, 
Cata  las  aguas  de  Duero 
Do  van  i.  dar  en  la  mar." 

They  are  the  words  of  the  popular  old  b.illad,  first  published,  I  believe,  (n 
the  R6mancero  de  Amberes,  and  lately  by  Duran,  Romances  Caballercsco* 
i  Hist(5ricus,  Parte  I,  p.  82. 

•Bernal  Uiaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  37, 


3  o8  DISCO  VER  Y  OF  MEXICO. 

pleasantly  off  the  shore,  and  Cortes,  liking  the  spot,  thought  he 

migiu  safely  anchor  under  the  lee  of  the  island,  which  would 
shelter  him  from  the  twrtcs  that  sweep  over  these  seas  with  fatal 
dolence  in  the  winter,  sometimes  even  late  in  the  spring. 

The  ships  had  not  been  long  at  anchor,  when  a  light  pirogue, 
filled  with  naiives,  shot  off  from  the  neighboririg  coniinent,  and 
steered  for  the  general's  vessel,  distinguished  by  the  royal  ensign 
of  Casiile  Tioaiing  from  the  mast.  The  Indians  came  on  board 
with  a  frank  confidence,  inspired  by  the  accounts  of  the  Spaniards 
spread  by  their  countrymen  who  had  traded  with  Grijalva.  They 
brought  presents  of  fruits  and  flowers  and  little  ornaments  of  gola, 
which  they  gladly  exchanged  for  the  usual  trinkets.  Cortds  was 
baffled  in  his  attempts  to  hold  a  conversation  with  his  visiters  by 
means  of  the  interpreter,  Aguilar,  who  was  ignorant  of  the  lan- 
guage ;  the  Mayan  dialects,  with  v/hich  he  was  conversant,  bearing 
too  little  resemblance  to  the  Aztec.  The  natives  supplied  the 
delicienc}',  as  far  as  possible,  by  the  unconmion  vivacity  and  sig- 
nificance of  their  gestures, — the  hieroglyphics  of  speech, — but 
the  Spanish  conrimander  saw  v;ith  chagrin  the  embarrassment' 
he  must  encounier  in  future  for  want  of  a  more  perfect  medium 
of  communication.^  In  this  dilemma,  he  was  informed  that  one 
of  the  female  slaves  given  to  him  by  the  Tabascan  chiefs  was 
a  native  Mexican,  and  understood  the  language.  Her  name- 
that  given  to  her  by  the  Spaniards — was  Marina  ;  and,  as  she 
was  to  exercise  a  most  important  influence  on  their  fortunes,  it  is 
necessary  to  acquaini  the  reader  with  something  of  her  character 
and  history. 

She  v.'as  borri  at  Painalla,  in  the  province  of  Coatzacualco,  on 
the  south-eastern  borders  of  the  Mexican  empire.  Her  father, 
a  rich  and  powerful  cacique,  died  when  she  was  very  young. 
Her  mother  married  agfjin,  and,  having  a  son,  she  conceived  the 
infamous  idea  of  securing  to  this  offspring  oi  her  second  union 
Marina's  rightful  inheritance. 

She  accordingly  feigned  that  the  latter  was  dead.  bu.  secretly 
delivered  her  mto  the  hands  of  some  itinerant  traders  of  Xical- 
lanco.  She  availed  herself,  at  the  same  time,  of  the  death  of  a 
child  of  one  or  her  slaves,  to  substitute  the  corpse  for  that  of  her 
own  daughter,  and  celebrated  the  obsequies  with  mock  solemnity. 
These  particul;..rs  are  related  by  the  honest  old  soldier,  Bernai 
Diaz,  who  knevy-  the  mother,  and  witnessed  the  generous  treat- 

^  Lu;  Czs3.3  notices  the  i^igniiicance  of  the  Indian  gestures  as  implying  a 
— 'o;;t  act:  c  jm-ic;i-:atiun.  "  Senntcs  e  meneos  con  que  Jos  Ynfiios  mocho 
n'.ns  4^2  oti-:;^  ecnerncinne;;  cntienden  v  se  dan  a  entender,  por  lener  muy 
biyos  iob  -.c-:,l!l1  I,  -..v^.a'oic  :  v  tainbien    ios    interiores,  mayornieutc  qucs  aO- 

iaablt,  iu  iniagin^.cior.,"     Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS.,  lib.  3,  cap.  120. 


DOXA  :.rARI\A. 


209 


ment  of  her  afterwards  by  Marina.  By  the  merchants  the  Indian 
maiden  was  again  sold  to  the  cacique  of  Tabasco,  who  delivered 
h-^r,  as  we  have  seen,  to  the  Spaniards. 

From  the  place  of  her  birth  she  was  well  acquainted  with  the 
Mexican  tongue,  which  indeed,  she  is  said  to  have  spoicen  with 
great  elegance.  Her  residence  in  Tabasco  familiarized  her  with 
the  dialect  of  that  country,  s.)  that  site  could  carry  on  a  con\-er- 
sation  with  Aguiiar,  which  he  in  turn  rendered  iiito  the  Castilian. 
Thus  a  certain,  though  somewhat  circuitous  cnannel  was  opened 
to  Corte's  for  communicating  with  the  Aztecs  ;  a  circumstance  of 
the  last  importance  to  the  success  of  his  enterprise.  It  was  not 
very  long,  however,  before  Marina,  who  had  a  lively  genius,  made 
herself  so  far  mistress  of  the  Castilian  as  to  supersede  the  neces- 
sity of  any  other  linguist.  She  learned  it  the  more  readily,  as  it 
was  to  her  the  language  of  love. 

Corte's,  who  appreciated  the  value  of  her  services  from  the  tirst 
made  her  his  interpreter,  then  his  secretary,  and,  won  by  her 
charms,  his  mistress.  She  had  a  son  by  him,  Don  Martin  Cortes, 
comendador  of  the  Military  order  of  St.  James,  less  distinguished 
by  his  birth  than  his  unmerited  persecutions. 

Marina  was  at  this  time  in  the  morning  of  life.  She  is  said 
to  have  possessed  uncommon  personal  attractions,*  and  her 
open,  expressive  features  indicated  her  generous  temper.  She 
always  remained  faithful  to  the  countrymen  of  her  adoption  ; 
and  her  knowledge  of  the  language  and  customs  of  the  Mex- 
icans, and  often  of  their  designs,  enable  her  to  extricate  the 
Spaniards,  more  than  once,  from  the  most  embarrassing  and 
perilous  situations.  She  had  her  errors,  as  we  have  seen.  But 
thev  si;ould  be  rather  charged  to  the  defects  of  early  education, 
and  to  tiie  evil  inlluence  of  him  to  whom  in  the  darkness  of  her 
spirit  she  looked  with  simple  confidence  for  the  light  to  guide 
her.     All  agree  that  she  was  full  of  excellent  qualities,  and  the 

*  "  Ilermosa  como  Diosa,''  hrautiful  a.-  a  goddess,  says  Camargo  of  her, 
(Hist,  de  Tiascala,  MS.)  A  modern  j.oet  pays  her  ctiarms  tiie  foilowing 
not  inelegant  tribute; 

"  Adruira  x:\n  'uci(ia  caba'.gadn 
V  -si.if.ai  ■.,.>  "li  iJona  ]^Iarina, 
Indlu  r,:>'lu^■   u  cauiiilio  iitcseiitada, 
Ijv  full. Ilia  V  l'i;.it/..\  I'Li'j'^riua. 
»  *-  •.;;■      '     *  * 

C'',:i  •'.>jspc':.'k)  c-pii!'.  ;  y  vivcza 
Gira  !a  visi.i  cii  [■;  conr-.:'-  'i  mudo  ; 
Kico  nn!it'    ri(j  .■xiriMii.i  i;nlilf-7a 
Coil  chaj'as  de  oro  autmi/.aria  pudo, 
PriMidio  Coji  biiUia  k'  nti.c/.a 
Si-jbr;;  Itis  |>i.-cli(.s  tn  ajro-o  midd  ; 
R..-v;u  i-arr-..;  (!c  la  In-llaiia  Z..na, 
Varolii:  y  tifriiK).«i<iini.i  Amnzoiia." 

MuKATiN,  La£  Nav«s  d«  CoiIm  DoatrwidM. 


S I O  DISCO  VERY  OF  MEXICO. 

important  services  which  she  rendered  the  Spaniards  have  made 
her  memory  deservedly  dear  to  them  ;  while  the  name  of  Ma- 
linche  —  the  name  by  which  she  is  still  known  in  Mexico — was 
pronounced  with  kindness  by  the  conquered  races,  with  whose 
misfortunes  she  showed  an  invariable  sympathy.^ 

With  the  aid  of  his  two  intelligent  interpreters,  Corte's  entered 
into  conversation  with  his  Indian  visitors.  He  learned  that  they 
were  Mexicans,  or  rather  subjects  of  the  great  Mexican  empire, 
of  which  their  own  province  formed  one  of  the  comparatively  re- 
cent conquests.  The  country  was  ruled  by  a  powerful  monarch 
called  Moctheuzoma,  or  by  Europeans  more  commonly  Mon- 
tezuma,* who  dwelt  on  the  mountain  plains  of  the  interior, 
nearly  seventy  leagues  from  the  coast ;  their  own  province  was 
governed  by  one  of  his  nobles,  named  Teuhtlile,  whose  residence 
was  eight  leagues  distant.  Cortes  acquainted  them  in  turn 
with  his  own  friendly  views  in  visiting  their  country,  and  with 
his  desire  of  an  interview  with  the  Aztec  governor.  He  then 
dismissed  them  loaded  with  presents,  having  first  ascertained 
that  there  was  abundance  of  gold  in  the  interior,  like  the  speci- 
mens they  had  brought. 

Cortds,  pleased  with  the  manners  of  the  people,  and  the  goodly 
reports  of  the  land,  resolved  to  take  up  his  quarters  here  for  the 
present.  The  next  morning,  April  21,  being  Good  Friday,  he 
landed,  with  all  his  force,  on  the  very  spot  where  now  stands 
the  modern  city  of  Vera  Cruz.  Little  did  the  Conqueror  im- 
agine that  the  desolate  beach,  on  which  he  first  planted  his  foot, 
was  one  day  to  be  covered  by  a  flourishing  city,  the  great  mart 
of  European  and  Oriental  trade,  the  commercial  capital  of 
New  Spain.^ 

'  Las  Casas,  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS.,  lib.  3,  cap.  120. — Gomara,  Cronic* 
cap.  25,  26. — Clavigero,  Stor.  del  Messico,  torn.  III.  pp.  12-14. — Oviedo, 
Hist,  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib  Xh^  cap  i,  —  Ixtlilxochitl  Hist.  Chich.,  MS., 
cap.  79. — Camargo,  Hist,  de  Tlascala,  MS. — Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Con- 
quisca,  cap.  37,  38. 

There  is  some  discordance  in  the  notices  of  the  early  life  of  Marina.  I 
have  followed  Bernal  Diaz, — from  his  means  of  observation,  the  best  author- 
ity. There  is  happily  no  difference  in  the  estimate  of  her  singular  merits 
and  services. 

*  The  name  of  the  Aztec  monarch,  like  those  of  most  persons  and  place* 
in  New  Spain,  has  been  twisted  into  all  possible  varieties  of  orthography. 
Modern  Spanish  historians  usually  call  him  Montezuma.  But  as  there  is 
no  reason  to  suppose  that  this  is  correct.  I  have  preferred  to  conform  to  the 
name  by  which  he  is  usually  known  to  English  readers.  It  is  the  one  adopted 
by  Bernal  Diaz,  and  by  no  other  contemporary,  as  far  as  I  know. 

"Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.' Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  79.— Clavigero,  Stor.  del  Messico, 
torn.  III.  p.  16. 

New  Vera  Cruz,  as  the  present  town  is  called,  is  distinct,  as  we  shall  see 
bereafter,  from  that  established  by  Cortes,  and  was  not  founded  till  the  cioM 


S/'ANIJ/^DS  LAXD  IN  AfFXICO.  -  ■: ,; 

It  was  a  wide  and  level  plain,  except  where  the  sand  had  been 

drifted  inio  hillocks  by  liie  perpetual  blowing  of  the  norfe.  On  these 
sand-hills  he  mounted  his  little  battery  of  guns,  so  as  to  give  him 
the  command  of  the  country.  He  then  employed  the  troops  in 
cutting  down  small  trees  and  bushes  which  grew  near,  in  order 
to  provide  a  shelter  from  the  weather.  In  this  he  was  aided  by 
the  people  of  the  country,  sent,  as  it  appeared,  by  the  governor 
of  the  district  to  assist  the  Spaniards.  With  their  help  ?.takes 
were  firmly  set  in  the  earth,  and  covered  with  boughs,  and  with 
mats  and  cotton  carpets,  which  the  friendly  tiatives  brought 
with  them.  In  this  way  thev  secured,  in  a  ccupie  of  days,  a 
good  defence  against  the  scorching  rays  of  the  sun,  which  beat 
with  intolerable  fierceness  on  the  sands.  The  place  was  sur- 
rounded by  stagnant  marshes,  the  exhalations  from  which, 
quickened  by  the  heat  into  the  pestilent  malaria,  have  oc- 
casioned in  later  times  wider  mortality  to  Europeans  than  all  the 
hurricanes  on  the  coast.  The  bilious  disorders,  now  the  terrible 
scourge  of  the  iierra  caliente^  were  little  known  before  the  Con- 
quest. The  seeds  of  the  poison  seem  to  have  been  scattered  by 
the  hand  of  civilization  ;  for  it  is  only  necessary  to  settle  a 
town  and  draw  together  a  busy  European  population,  in  order 
to  call  out  the  malignity  of  the  venom  which  had  before  lurked 
innoxious  in  the  atmosphere,*' 

While  these  arrangments  ware  in  progress,  the  natives  flocked 
in  from  the  adjacent  district,  which  was  tolerably  populous  in 
the  interior,  drawn  by  a  natural  curiosity  to  see  the  wonderfu' 
strangers.  They  brouglit  with  them  fruits,  vegetables,  flowers 
in  abundance,  game,  and  many  dishes  cocked  after  the  fashion 
of  the  country,  with  little  articles  of  gold  and  other  ornaments. 
Tiiey  gave  away  some  as  presents,  and  bartered  otliers  for  the 
wares  of  thci  Spaniards  ;  so  -/hat  the  camp,  crowded  wiii.  a  motley 
throng  of  every  age  and  sex,  wo.e  the  appeal  ance  of  a  fa;r.    From 

of  th-:  sixteenth  centiTV,  \i\-  i\\o.  Conrle  rle  Monterev.  viceroy  <  f  I^Texic"  Tt 
rcc'jivtd  its  privileges' a;-  a  cityfrovn  i'hili]i  III.  :ni()i5.  l!.n(...  toui.  jii. 
p.  3",  iic.ta. 

'Tic-  ep'.'^mic  rA  \\\z  rv^tlazihitatl.  '^o  f.-itnl  to  the  AziP'--^.  i-  siiown  by 
.M.  de  HumSolflt  Ui  t-)e  cspen^inllv  different  from  the  7Jdmi!r.  or  bilious 
fever  nf  our  c!;iv.  Lx'eed,  'hi-  d'.seu-e  is  not  noticed  bv  the  ■.:)u\\  cunqiKTors 
,■  i  colonists:  ';uid  riavi-.^ro  ass:ris  >v;i;not  known  iv,  Mex'.fii,  till  1725. 
'  •  .r.  del  Mc;s:co.  to'ii  I,  p.  11-.  ncta.i  I  lumboldi.  h'>\' 'vm,  arguing  that 
:.  ■  --n  e  phv^icrd  ca  1  s  •rm^f  \\:\-'?  nr^dncrd  -invhr  •-■■nit'^.  carries  the 
•  ■■-'•n-e  bark  »n  n  mi' /h  hi-h-r -.n*;  nit v  of  wKidi  lie  discerns  .some  iradi- 
ti')n.-<l  and  historic  vesti-es.  "11  ne  taut  \y\5  coiifondre  repocjue,"  he 
rtmarlis  \v''!i  ' '=  nsnal  ixnrtr-iti^  n.  "a  launelle  une  ninladie  a  <?tfc  decriie 
v>''  r  !a  :^r-ni"r'  \  •' -.  r.arce  ne'e:!'-  a  fa'*  dc  grands  rava;:e;.  -'ans  --y  court 
fsi  •••  ri,.  t(,-,„j,  av<T  I'i 'a)MU'- d.  -,a  premiere  anparition."  Essai  Poiique, 
torn.  IV.  11.  iCr  ct  seq.,  and  i/o. 


f  1 2  DISCO  VER  Y  OF  MEXICO. 

some  of  the  visiters  Corte's  learned  the  intention  of  the  govemof 
to  wait  on  him  the  following  day. 

This  was  Easter.  Teuhtlile  arrived,  as  he  had  announced, 
before  noon.  He  was  attended  by  a  numerous  train,  and  was 
met  by  Cortds,  who  conducted  him  with  much  ceremony  to  his 
tent,  where  his  principal  officers  were  assembled.  The  Aztec 
chief  returned  their  salutations  with  polite,  though  formal 
courtesy.  Mass  was  first  said  by  father  Olmedo,  and  the  serv- 
ice was  listened  to  by  Teuhtlile  and  his  attendants  with  decent 
reverence,  A  collation  was  afterwards  served,  at  which  the 
general  entertained  his  guest  with  Spanish  wines  and  confec- 
tions. The  interpreters  were  then  introduced,  and  a  conversa- 
tion commenced  between  the  parties. 

The  first  inquiries  of  Teuhtlile  were  respecting  the  country  of 
the  strangers,  and  the  purport  of  their  visit.  Cortds  told  him, 
that  "  he  was  the  subject  of  a  potent  monarch  beyond  the  seas, 
who  ruled  over  an  immense  empire,  and  had  kings  and  princes 
for  his  vassals  ;  that,  acquainted  with  the  greatness  of  the  Mex- 
ican emperor,  his  master  had  desired  to  enter  into  a  communica- 
tion with  him,  and  had  sent  him  as  his  envoy  to  wait  on  Mon- 
tezuma with  a  present  in  token  of  his  good-will,  and  a  message 
which  he  must  deliver  in  person."  He  concluded  by  inquiring 
of  Teuhtlile  when  he  could  be  admitted  to  his  sovereign's 
presence. 

To  this  the  Aztec  noble  somewhat  haughtily  replied,  "  How 
is  it,  that  you  have  been  here  only  two  days,  and  demand  to  see 
the  emperor  "i  "  He  then  added,  with  more  courtesy,  that  "  he 
was  surprised  to  learn  there  was  another  monarch  as  powerful  as 
Montezuma  ;  but  that,  if  it  were  so,  he  had  no  doubt  his  master 
would  be  happy  to  communicate  with  him.  He  would  send  his 
couriers  with  the  royal  gift  brought  by  the  Spanish  commander, 
and,  so  soon  as  he  had  learned  Montezuma's  will,  would  com- 
municate it." 

Teuhtlile  then  commanded   his  slaves  to  bring   forward  the 

{)resent  intended  for  the  Spanish  general.  It  consisted  of  ten 
oads  of  fine  cottons,  several  mantles  of  that  curious  feather 
work  whose  rich  and  delicate  dyes  might  vie  with  the  most  beauti- 
ful painting,  and  a  wicker  basket  filled  with  ornaments  of  wrought 
gold,  all  calculated  to  inspire  the  Spaniards  with  high  ideas  of 
the  wealth  and  mechanical  ingenuity  of  the  Mexicans. 

Cortds  received  these  presents  with  suitable  acknowledgments, 
and  ordered  his  own  attendants  to  lay  before  the  chief  the 
articles  designed  for  Montezuma.  These  were  an  arm-chair 
richly  carved  and  painted,  a  crimson  cap  of  cloth,  having  a  gold 
medal    emblazoned    with  St.    George    and  the    dragon,  and  a 


mTERVIEW  WITH  THE  AZTECS. 


«i3 


quantity  of  collars,  bracelets  and  other  ornaments  of  cut  glass, 

which  in  a  country  where  glass  was  not  to  be  had,  might  claim  to 
have  the  value  of  real  gems,  and  no  doubt  passed  for  such  with 
the  inexperienced  Mexican.  Teuhtlile  observed  a  soldier  in  the 
camp  with  a  shining  giit  helmet  on  his  head,  v,-hich  he  said  re- 
minded him  of  one  worn  by  the  god  Quetzatcoatl  in  Mexico  ;  and 
he  showed  a  desire  that  Montezuma  should  see  i:.  The  coming 
of  the  Spaniards,  as  the  reader  will  soon  see.  was  associated  with 
some  traditions  of  this  same  deity.  Corte's  c-\'pres=ed  his  willing- 
ness that  the  casque  should  be  sent  to  the  eninerrr,  intimating 
a  hope  that  it  would  be  returned  filled  with  the  gold  dust  of  the 
country,  that  he  might  be  able  to  compare  its  quality  with  that 
in  his  own  !  He  further  told  the  governor,  as  we  are  informed 
by  his  chaplain,  *'  that  the  Spaniards  were  troubled  with  a  dis- 
ease of  the  heart,  for  which  gold  was  a  specific  remedy  "  !* 
"  In  short,"  says  Las  Casas,  "  he  contrived  to  make  his  want  of 
gold  very  clear  to  the  governor."  '''^ 

While  these  things  were  passing,  Cortes  observed  one  of  Teuh- 
tiile's  attendants  busy  with  a  pencil,  apparently  delineating 
some  object.  On  looking  at  his  work,  he  found  that  it  was  a 
sketch  on  canvas  of  the  Spaniards,  their  cosir.mes,  arms,  and, 
in  short,  different  objects  of  interest,  giving  to  each  its  apprO' 
priate  form  and  color.  This  was  the  celebrated  picture-writing 
of  the  Aztecs,  ami,  as  Teuhtlile  informed  him,  this  man  was  em- 
ployed in  portraying  the  various  objects  for  tiic  e\ e  of  Montezuma,. 
v/iio  would  thus  gather  a  more  vivid  notion  of  their  appearance 
than  iioin  any  description  by  v.-ords.  Cortes  was  pleased  with 
<C\-.  1  lea  ;  and.  as  he  knew  how  much  the  elTect  would  be  height- 
ened b\'  c.iiv<;r;i;;g  siill  iife  'wAc,  action,  ha  ordered  out  the  cav- 
alry Oil  the  beach,  the  v;et  saaus  of  which  afforded  a  firm  footing 
tor  the  hiir.scs.  Tlie  bold  and  rapid  movements  of  ihe  troops, 
as  tncy  went  turoa^Mi  ih'jlr  inilaaiy  exercises  ;  the  apparent  ease 
w.di  '.vhlcli  they  nianag-  u  tlie  fierv  animals  on  v.inch  thev  \vere 
.mounted;  tlie  glancing  •>[  their  v/eapons,  and  the 
til-  truiiijjet,  aii  hllcd  ihe  spectators  \\'\-a\  aston;, 
when  tljcy  iieard  tliu  inunduis  of  tlic  cannon,  whl  ■ 
(iered  to  ijc  fired  :U  tlie  same  liinc,  and  wuuessed  t. 
:i;;"a;e  and  tla:ne  Issuii:;;  fr^ui  these  terribie  c':-;;;i 
'".,  hh.g  sou:id  of  the  ball-.  a->  diev  (iash"d  tlr^  iih 
•I,';  !iviMibo:"iiig  for,:-t,  shiwnln'j;  ihelr  brarf^ies  oii 
tJi.  y  were  liilecl  wi;h  consternation,  from  which  tJie  Aztec  chie*" 
him.-,',-!f  was  n(;t  wholly  Iree. 


"  fjomarri.  (JiMiiira. 
:'  I. a-  :■:':■    .  \l-  ■ 


dirir 

!  cr?  of 

innei 

:-!t  :   hut 

!    Cc 

;rte:.   '.)r 

V'M 

11  iv.^^  of 

;-■,,    r 

!!^a  :l\c 

■\\c  : 

ree;   of 

<  fra^ 

anents, 

St4 


DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO. 


Nothing  of  all  this  was  lost  on  the  painters,  who  faithfully  r& 
corded,  after  their  fashion,  every  particular;  not  omitting  the 
ships,  "the  water-houses," — as  they  called  them, — of  the  strangers, 
which,  with  their  dark  hulls  and  snow-white  sails  reflected  from 
the  water,  were  swinging  lazily  at  anchor  on  the  calm  bosom  of 
the  bay.  All  was  depicted  wdth  a  fidelity,  that  excited  in  their 
turn  the  admiration  of  the  Spaniards,  who,  doubtless  unprepared 
for  this  exhibition  of  skill,  greatly  overestimated  the  merits  of 
the  execution. 

These  various  matters  completed,  Teuhtlile  with  his  attendants 
withdrew  from  the  Spanish  quarters,  with  the  same  ceremony  with 
which  he  had  entered  them  ;  leaving  orders  that  his  people 
should  supply  the  troops  with  provisions  and  other  articles  re- 
quisite for  their  accommodation,  till  further  instructions  from  the 
capital." 

"  Ixtlilxochitl,  Relaciones,  MS.,  No.  13.— Idem,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap. 
79. — Gomara,  Cronica,  cap.  25,  26. — Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista, 
cap.  38. — Herrera,  Hist.  General,  dec.  lib.  5,  cap.  4. — Carta  de  Vera  Cruz, 
MS. — Torquemada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  4,  cap.  IJ-IS. — Tczozomoc,  Cr6ii. 
Mexicana,  MS.,  cap.  107. 


ACCOUNT  OF  MONTEZUMA, 


"S 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Account   of  Montezuma. — State  of   his  Empire. — Strangk 
Prognostics. — Embassv  and   Presents. — Spanish   Encamp* 

MENT. 

1519- 

We  must  now  take  leave  of  the  Spanish  camp  in  the  tierra 
caliente,  and  transport  ourselves  to  the  distant  capital  of  Mexico, 
where  no  Uttle  sensation  was  excited  by  the  arrival  of  the  wonder- 
ful strangers  on  the  coast.  The  Aztec  throne  was  filled  at  that 
time  by  Montezuma  the  Second,  nephew  of  the  last,  and  grand- 
son of  a  preceding  monarch.  He  had  been  elected  to  the  regaJ 
dignity  in  1502,  in  preference  to  his  brothers,  for  his  superioi 
qualifications,  both  as  a  soldier  and  a  priest, — a  combination  of 
offices  sometimes  found  in  the  Mexican  candidates,  as  it  was, 
more  frequently,  in  the  Egyptian.  In  early  youth,  he  had  taken 
an  active  part  in  the  wars  of  the  empire,  though  of  late  he  had 
devoted  himself  more  ex'ihisively  to  the  services  of  the  temple; 
and  he  was  scrupulous  in  his  attentions  to  all  the  burdensome 
ceremonial  of  the  Aztec  worship.  He  maintained  a  grave  and 
reserved  demeanor,  speaking  little  and  with  prudent  deliberation. 
His  deportment  was  well  calculated  to  inspire  ideas  of  superior 
sanctity.' 

When  his  election  was  announced  to  him,  he  was  found  sweep- 
ing down  the  stairs  in  the  great  temple  of  the  national  war-god. 
He  received  the  messengers  with  a  becoming  humility,  professing 
his  unfitness  for  so  responsible  a  station.  The  address  delivered 
as  usual  on  the  occasion  was  made  by  his  relative  Nezahualpilli, 
the  wise  king  of  Tezcuco.''  It  has  fortunately  been  preserved, 
and  presents  a  favorable  specimen  of  Indian  eloquence.  Towards 
the  conclusion,  the  orator  exclaims,  "  who  can  doubt  that  the 
Aztec  empire  has  reached  the  zenith  of  its  greatness,  since  the 
Almighty  has  placed  over  it  one  whose  very  presence  fills  every 

^  His  name  suited  his  nature;  Monte^uma,  according  to  l.as  Casas,  signi- 
fying, in  tlie  Mexican,  "sad  or  severe  man."  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS.,  lib 
3,  cap.  120. — Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  70. — Acosta,  lib.  7,  c;\p. 
20— Col  de  Mendoza,  pp.  13-16;  Codex  Tel.  Rem.,  p.  143,  ap.  Antiq.  o* 
Mexico,  vol.  VI. 

*  For  a  full  account  of  this  princo,  see  Book  I.,  chap.  6- 


2  i  6  DISCO  VER  Y  OF  MEXICO. 

beholder  with  reverence  ?  Rejoice,  happy  people,  that  you  have 
now  a  sovereign  who  will  be  to  y9u  a  steady  column  of  support ; 
a  father  in  distress,  a  more  than  brother  in  tenderness  and  sym- 
pathy; one  whose  aspiring  soul  will  disdain  all  the  profligate 
pleasures  of  the  senses,  and  the  wasting  indulgence  of  sloth. 
And  thou,  illustrious  youth,  doubt  hot  that  the  Creator,  who  has 
laid  on  thee  so  weighty  a  charge,  will  also  give  strength  to  sus- 
tain it;  that  he  who  has  been  so  liberal  in  times  past,  will  shower 
yet  more  abundant  blessings  on  thy  head,  and  keep  thee  firm  in 
thy  royal  seat  through  many  long  and  glorious  years." — These 
golden  prognostics,  which  melted  the  royal  auditor  into  tears, 
were  not  destined  to  be  realized.^ 

Montezuma  displayed  all  the  energy  and  enterprise  in  the 
commencement  of  his  reign,  which  had  been  anticipated  from 
him.  His  first  expedition  against  a  rebel  province  in  the  neigh- 
borhood was  crowned  with  success,  and  he  led  back  in  triumph 
a  throng  of  captives  for  the  bloody  sacrifice  that  was  to  grace  his 
coronation.  This  was  celebrated  with  uncommon  pomp.  Games 
and  religious  ceremonies  continued  for  several  days,  and  among 
the  spectators  who  flocked  from  distant  quarters  were  some  noble 
Tlascalans,  the  hereditary  enemies  of  Mexico.  They  were  in 
disguise,  hoping  thus  to  elude  detection.  They  were  recognized, 
however,  and  reported  to  the  monarch.  But  he  only  availed  him- 
self of  the  mformation  to  provide  them  with  honorable  entertain- 
ment, and  a  good  place  for  witnessing  tiie  games.  This  was  a 
magnanimous  act,  considering  the  long  cherished  hostility  be- 
tween the  nations. 

In  his  first  years,  Montezum.a  was  constantly  engaged  in  war, 
and  frequently  led  his  .irmies  in  person.  The  Aztec  banners 
were  seen  in  the  furthest  provinces  of  the  Guif  of  iVIexico,  and 
the  distant  regions  of  Nicaragua  and  Honduras.  Tiie  expeditions 
v/ere  generally  successful  ;  and  the  limits  of  :ii-  empire  were 
more  widely  extended  than  at  any  preceding  peri')Ci. 

Meanwhile  the  monarch  was  net  inatteniive  to  llie  interior 
concerns  of  the  kingdom.  He  made  some  i)riportant  changes 
in  the  courts  of  justice  ;  and  careiuily  watched  over  the  execu- 
tion of  the  laws,  which  he  enforced  with  stern  severity.  He  was 
in  the  habit  of  patrolling  the  streets  of  his  capital  In  disguise,  to 
make  himself  personally  acquainted  with  the  abuses  in  it.  And 
•Aith  more  questionable  policy,  it  is  said,  he  would  sometimes  try 
the  integrity  of  his  judges  by  tempting  them    with   large   bribes 

*  The  address  is  fully  reported  bv  Torquemada,  (Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  3, 
cap  ('vS,)  who  came  into  the  conntry'little  more  than  half  a  century  after  its 
^.Mvsrsy,  Ii  lias  been  recently  republished  by  Bustamante  Tezcuco  en  lot 
UinfCic;^  Tiempos,  (Mexico,  1826,)  pp,  256-258. 


ACCOUNT  OF  MOiVTEZCMA. 


217 


to  swerve  from  thfiir  duty,  and  then  call  the  delinquent  to  strict 
account  for  yielding  to  the  temptation. 

He  liberally  recompensed  all  who  served  him.  He  showed  a 
similar  munificent  spirit  in  his  public  works,  constructing  and 
embellishing  the  temples,  bringing  water  into  the  capital  by  a 
new  channel,  and  establishing  a  hospital,  or  retreat  for  invalid 
soldiers,  in  the  city  of  Colhuacan, 

These  acts,  so  worthy  of  a  great  prince,  were  counterblanced 
by  others  of  an  opposite  complexion.  The  humility,  displayed 
so  ostentatiously  before  his  elevation,  gave  way  to  an  intoler- 
able arrogance.  In  his  pleasure-houses,  domestic  establishmen:, 
and  way  of  living,  he  assumed  a  pomp  unknown  to  his  predeces- 
sors. He  secluded  himself  from  public  observation,  or,  when 
he  went  abroad,  exacted  the  most  slavish  homage  ;  while  in  the 
palace  he  would  be  served  only,  even  in  the  most  menial  offices, 
by  persons  of  rank.  He,  further,  dismissed  several  plebeians, 
chiefly  poor  soldiers  of  merit,  from  the  places  they  had  occupied 
near  the  person  of  his  predecessor,  considering  their  attendance 
a  dishonor  to  royalty.  It  was  in  vain  that  his  oldest  and  sagest 
counsellors  remonstrated  on  a  conduct  so  impolitic. 

While  he  thus  disgusted  his  subjects  by  his  haughty  deport- 
ment, he  alienated  their  affections  by  the  imposition  of  grievous 
taxes.  These  were  demanded  by  the  lavish  expenditure  of  his 
court.  They  fell  with  peculiar  heaviness  on  the  conquered 
cities.  This  oppression  led  to  frequent  insurrection  and  re- 
sistance ;  and  the  latter  years  of  his  reign  present  a  scene  of 
unintermitting  hostility,  in  which  the  forces  of  one  half  of  the  em- 
pire were  employed  in  suppressing  the  commotions  of  the  other. 
Unfortunately  there  was  no  principle  of  amalgamation  by  which 
the  new  acquisitions  could  be  incorporated  into  the  ancient 
monarchy,  as  parts  of  one  whole.  Their  interests,  as  well  as 
sympathies,  were  different.  Thus  the  more  widely  the  Aztec  em- 
pire was  extended,  the  weaker  it  became  ;  resembling  some  vast 
and  ill-proportioned  edifice,  whose  disjointed  materials,  having 
no  principle  of  cohesion,  and  tottering  under  their  own  weight, 
seem  ready  to  fall  before  the  first  blast  of  the  tempest. 

In  1516,  died  the  Tezcucan  king,  Nezahualpilli ;  in  whom 
Montezuma  lost  his  most  sagacious  counsellor.  The  successioi; 
was  contested  by  his  two  sons,  Cacama  and  Ixtlilxochitl.  The 
former  was  supported  by  Montezuma.  The  latter,  the  younger 
of  the  princes,  a  br;ld,  aspiring  youth,  appealing  to  the  patriotic 
sentiment  of  his  nation,  would  have    persuaded    them    that   hi- 

*  Acosta,  lib.  7,  cap.  22 — Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nueva  Espafia,  lib.  8,  Prolog.  ■, 
Ct  cap.  I. — Torquemada,  Monarch.  Iiul.,  lib.  3,  cap.  T^,  74,  81, — Col.  '.'.. 
Hendora,  pp.  14,  85,  ap.  Antiq.  of  Mexico,  vol.  VI. 


S  ,  S  DTSCO  VER  Y  OF  MEXICO. 

brother  was  too  much  in  the  Mexican  interests  to  be  true  to  hit 

own  country.  A  civil  war  ensued,  and  ended  by  a  compromise, 
by  which  one  half  of  the  kingdom,  with  the  capital,  remained  to 
Cacama,  and  the  northern  portion  to  his  ambitious  rival.  Ix- 
tlilxochitl  became  from  that  time  the  mortal  foe  of  Montezuma.* 

A  more  formidable  enemy  still  was  the  little  republic  of  Tlas- 
cala,  lying  midway  between  the  Mexican  Valley  and  the  coast. 
It  had  maintained  its  independence  for  more  than  two  centuries 
against  the  allied  forces  of  the  empire.  Its  resources  were  un- 
impaired, its  civilization  scarcely  below  that  of  its  great  rival 
states,  and  for  courage  and  military  prowess  it  had  established 
a  name  inferior  to  none  other  of  the  nations  of  Anahuac. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  Aztec  monarchy,  on  the  arrival 
of  Cortes ; — the  people  disgusted  with  the  arrogance  of  the  sov- 
ereign ;  the  provinces  and  distant  cities  outraged  by  fiscal  exac- 
tions ;  while  potent  enemies  in  the  neighborhood  lay  watching 
the  hour  when  they  might  assail  their  formidable  rival  with  ad- 
vantage. Stiil  the  kingdom  was  strong  in  its  internal  resources, 
in  the  will  of  its  monarch,  in  the  long  habitual  deference  to  his 
authority, — in  short,  in  the  terror  of  his  name,  and  in  the  valor 
and  discipline  of  his  armies^  grown  gray  in  active  service,  and 
well  drilled  in  all  the  tactics  of  Indian  warfare.  The  time  had 
now  come,  when  these  imperfect  tactics  and  rude  weapons  of  the 
barbarian  were  to  be  brought  into  collision  with  the  science  and 
enginery  of  the  most  civilized  nations  of  the  globe. 

During  the  latter  years  of  his  reign,  Montezuma  had  rarely 
taken  pnrt  in  his  military  expeditions,  which  he  left  to  his  cap- 
tains, occupying  himself  chiefly  with  his  sacerdotal  functions. 
Under  no  prince  had  the  priesthood  enjoyed  greater  consider- 
ation and  immunities.  The  religious  festivals  and  rites  were  cel-^ 
ebrated  with  unprecedented  pomp.  The  oracles  were  consulted 
on  the  most  trivial  occasions  ;  and  the  sanguinary  deities  were 
propitiated  by  hetacombs  of  victims  dragged  in  triumph  to  the 
capital  from  the  conquered  or  rebellious  provinces.  The  religion, 
or,  to  speak  correctly,  the  superstition  of  Montezuma  proved  a 
principal  cause  if  his  calamities.  In  a  preceding  chapter  I  have 
noticed  the  popular  traditions  resnecting  Quetzalcoatl,  that  deity 
with  a  fair  complexion  and  flowing  beard,  so  unlike  the  Indian 
physiognomv,  v/ho,  after  fulfilling  his  mission  of  benevolence 
among  the  Aztecs,  embarked  on  the  Atlantic  Sea  for  the  myste- 
rious  shores  of  Tlapallan.®  He  promised,  on  his  departure,  to 
return  at  some  future  day  with  his  posterity,  and  resume  the  pos. 

^  Cl?iv'2;ero,  Stor.  del  Messico.  torn.  I.  pp.  267,  274,  275.— Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist 

Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  'jo-^-jd. — Acosta,  lib.  7,  cap,  21. 
'  Ante,  Book  I ,,  chap,  3,  pp.  59,  60,  and  note  6. 


STRANGE  PROGNOSTICS. 


•«9 


session  of  his  empire.  That  day  was  looked  forward  to  with 
hope  or  with  apprehension,  according  to  the  interest  of  the  be- 
liever, but  with  general  confidence  throughout  the  wide  borders 
of  Anahuac.  Even  after  the  Conquest,  it  still  lingered  among 
the  Indian  races,  by  whom  it  was  as  fondly  cherished,  as  the 
advent  of  their  king  Sebastian  continued  to  be  by  the  Portuguese, 
or  that  of  the  Messiah  by  the  Jews." 

A  general  feeling  seems  to  have  prevailed  in  the  time  of  Mon- 
tezuma, that  the  period  for  the  return  of  the  deity,  and  the  i\x\\ 
accomplishment  of  his  promise,  was  near  at  hand.  This  convic- 
tion is  said  to  have  gained  ground  from  various  preternatural 
occurrences,  reported  with  more  or  less  detail  by  all  the  most 
ancient  historians.^  In  1510,  the  great  lake  of  Tezcuco,  without 
the  occurrence  of  a  tempest,  or  earthquake,  or  any  other  visible 
cause,  became  violently  agitated,  overflowed  its  banks,  and,  pour- 
ing into  the  streets  of  Mexico,  swept  off  many  of  the  buildings 
by  the  fury  of  the  waters.  In  151 1,  one  of  the  turrets  of  the 
great  temple  took  fire,  equally  without  any  apparent  cause,  and 
continued  to  burn  in  defiance  of  all  attempts  to  extinguish  it.  In 
the  following  years,  three  comets  were  seen  ;  and  not  long  before 
the  coming  of  the  Spaniards  a  strange  light  broke  forth  in  the 
east.  It  spread  broad  at  its  base  on  the  horizon,  and  rising  in  a 
pyramidal  form  tapered  off  as  it  approached  the  zenith.  It  resem- 
bled a  vast  sheet  or  flood  of  fire,  emitting  sparkles,  or,  as  an  old 
writer  expresses  it,  "  seemed  thickly  powdered  with  stars."'  At 
the  same  time,  low  voices  were  heard  in  the  air,  and  doleful  wail- 
ings,  as  if  to  announce  some  strange,  mysterious  calamity  !  The 
Aztec  monarch,  terrified  at  the  apparitions  in  the  heavens,  took 
counsel  of  Nezahualpilli,  who  was  a  great  proficient  in  the  subtle 
science  of  astrology.  But  the  royal  sage  cast  a  deeper  cloud 
over  his  spirit  by  reading  m  these  prodigies  the  speedy  downfall 
of  the  empire.  ^^ 

"  Tezozomoc,  Cron.  Mexicana,  MS.,  cap  107. — Ixtlilxochid,  Hist.  Chich., 
MS.,  cap.  I. — Torquemada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  4,  cap.  14 ;  lib.  6,  cap.  24. — 
Cofiex  Vaticamis,  Antiq.  of  Mexico,  vol.  VI.  Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nuevj 
Espana,  lib.  8,  cap.  7. — Ibid.,  MS.,  lib.  12,  cap.  3,  4. 

**  "  renia  jior  cierto,"  says  I, as  Casas  of  Montezuma,  "  segun  siis  prophetas 
agoreros  le  avian  certificado,  que  su  estado  e  rriquezas  y  prosperidad  avia  de 
perezer  dentro  de  pocos  anos  por  ^iertas  gentes  que  avian  de  venir  en  s«s 
dias,  que  de  su  felicidad  lo  derrocase,  y  por  esto  vivia  siempre  con  tenior  y  en 
triste9a  y  sobrcsaltado."     Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS.,  lib.  3,  cap.  120. 

^Camargo,  Hist.  Je  Tlascala,  M.S. — The  Interpreter  of  the  Codex  Tel.- 
Rcm.  intimates  that  this  scintillating  phenomenon  was  j^robably  nothing  more 
than  an  eruption  of  one  of  the  great  volcanoes  of  Mc'co.  Antiqu.  of  Mex- 
ico, vol.  VI.  p.  144. 

I'J  .Sahagun,  Hist,  dc  Nueva  Espafia,  MS.,  lib.  12,  cap.  I. — Camargo,  Hist 
de  Tlascala,  MS. — Acosta,  lib.  7,  cap.  23. — Herrera,  Hist,  General,  dec  2 
Ulx  5,  oap.  5. —  Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist,  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  74. 


#20  DISCO  VER  Y  OF  MEXICO. 

SaoL  ar-:  '.ne  strange  stories  reported  by  the  chron'.clrrs,  in 
Vi''  cl'-  '■'•  -i  not  impossible  to  detect  the  glimmerings  of  truth." 
Nearly  thirty  years  had  elapsed  since  the  discovery  of  the  Islands 
by  Columbus,  and  more  than  twenty  since  his  visit  to  the  Amer- 
ican continent.  Rumors,  more  or  less  distinct,  of  this  wonderful 
appearance  of  the  white  men,  bearing  in  their  hands  the  thunder 
*nd  the  lightning,  so  iike  in  matiy  respects  to  the  traditions  of 
Ouetzalcoatl,  would  naturally  spread  far  and  wide  among  the 
Indian  nations.  Such  rumors,  doubtless,  long  before  the  landing 
of  the  Spaniards  in  Mexico,  found  their  way  up  the  grand  plateau, 
filling  the  minds  of  men  with  anticipations  of  the  rrcar  coming  of 
the  period  when  the  great  deity  was  to  return  and  receive  his 
own  again.  In  the  exciied  state  of  their  imaginations,  prodigies 
becnnie  a  familiar  occurrence.  Or  rather,  events  not  very  un- 
common in  themseJves,  seen  through  the  discolored  medium  of 
fear,  were  easiiy  magnified  into  prodigies  ;  and  the  accidental 
swell  of  the  lake,  the  appearance  of  a  comet,  and  liie  conliagration 
of  a  building  were  all  interpreted  as  the  special  annunciations  of 
Heaven.^'^  Thus  it  happens  in  those  great  political  convulsions 
which  shake  the  foundations  of  society,-— the  mighty  events  that 
cast  their  shadows  before  them  in  their  coming.  Then  it  is  that 
the  atmosphere  is  agitated  with  the  low,  prophetic  murmurs,  with 
which  Nature,  in  the  moral  as  in  the  physical  world,  announces 
the  march  of  the  hurricane  ; 

"  When  from  the  sliores 
And  forest-rustling  mountains  conies  a  voice. 
That,  solemn  sounding,  bids  the  world  prepare  ! ''' 

When  tidingR  "/ere  brought  to  the  capital,  of  the  landing  of 
Grijah^a  on  the  coast,  in  the  preceding  vear,  the  heart  of  Monte- 
ruma  was  filled  with  dis?nay.  He  fcit  as  if  the  destinies  wliich 
ha' I  so  iong  brooded  over  the  royal  line  of  Mexico  were  to  be 
accomplislie;d,  and  the  sceptre  was  to  pass  awny  from  his  house 

^  I  omit  tiie  most  extraordinary  nn'racie  of  all, — though  legal  attestations 
of  its  truth  were  fur. -.'shed  the  Court  of  Rome,  (see  C'avigero,  Stor.  del  Mes- 
Eico,  torn  I.  p.  289.) — nnrricly,  the  resFurertir-r,  of  Montezuma's  sister,  Pa- 
pantzin,  four  days  after  her  burial,  to  warn  the  monarch  nf  the  api)roaching 
ruin  of  his  cm]>ire.  It  finds  credit  with  one  writer  pt  Icnsi,  in  the  nineteenth 
century!  See  the  note  of  Sahagun's  Mexican  editor,  Bustamante,  Hist,  de 
?v;ueva  E«pana,  torn.  IT.  p.  270. 

^'^  I.ucan  gives  afineenum  Tation  of  such  prodigies  witnessed  in  the  Roman 
capital  in  a  similar  excitement.  (Pharsalia.  lib,  I.  v.  523,  et  =eq.)  Poor 
human  nature  is  much  the  same  everywhere.  Machiavelli  has  thought  the 
subject  wf.rtl'V  of  a  separate  chapter  hi  his  Discourses.  The  philosopher  iri* 
timates  a  belief  even  in  the  existence  of  beneficent  inte,lligences  who  send  those 
portents  as  a  sort  of  ■premonitories,  to  warn  mankind  of  the  coming  tempccif 
Discorsi  sopra  'I'ito  Livio,  lili.  i,  cap.  "56. 


EMBASSY  AjVD  PRESS J^TS,  ati 

forever.     Though  somewhat  relieved   by  the  departure  of  the 

Spaniards,  he  caused  sentinels  to  be  stationed  on  the  heights ; 
andj  when  the  Europeans  returned  under  Cortds,  he  doubtless 
received  the  earliest  notice  of  the  unwelcome  event.  It  was  by 
his  orders,  however,  that  the  provincial  governor  had  prepared 
so  hospitable  a  reception  for  them.  The  hieroglyphical  report 
of  these  strange  visitors,  now  lorwarded  to  the  capital,  revived 
all  his  apprehensions,  He  called,  wiliiout  delay,  a  meeting  of 
his  principal  counsellors,  including  the  kings  of  Tezcuco  and 
Tlacopan,  and  laid  the  matter  before  them.  *^ 

There  seem.s  to  have  been  much  divis'on  of  opinion  in  that 
body.  Some  were  for  resisting  the  strangers,  at  once,  whether 
by  fraud  or  by  open  force.  Others  contended,  that,  if  they  were 
supernatural  beings,  fraud  and  force  would  be  alike  useless.  If 
they  were,  as  they  pretended,  ambassadors  from  a  foreign  prince, 
such  a  policy  would  be  cowardly  and  uniust.  That  they  were 
not  of  the  family  of  Quetzalcoatl  was  argued  from  the  fact,  that 
they  had  shown  thenisei\  es  hostile  to  his  religion  ;  for  tidings  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  Spaniards  in  Tabasco,  it  seems,  had  al- 
ready reached  the  capital-  Among  those  in  favor  of  giving  them 
a  friendly  and  honorable  reception  v^as  the  Tezcucan  king, 
Cacnma. 

Vr.v  Montezuma^  taking  counsel  of  his  own  ill-defined  appre- 
hensioi:<;,  preferred  a  half-wav  course, — as  usual,  the  most  im- 
politic, lie  resolved  to  send  an  embassy,  with  such  a  magnifi- 
cent prestni  to  the  strangers,  as  should  impress  them  with  high 
idei's  of  hi:-:  grandeur  and  resources  ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  he 
vo;;'d  ff>rhid  their  a]:)nroach  to  the  capital.  This  was  to  reveal, 
'.!  once,  b^'th  his  wealth  and  his  weakness.-''' 

Vv'irJe  the  Aztec  court  was  thus  agitatecl  by  the  arrn/nl  of  the 
Spaniards,  they  .were  passing  their  time  in  ihe  tiei-ra  caliente,  not 
a  iif.ie  annoyed  by  the  exce5f:ive  heats  and  suffoca'iiiig  atmos- 
pl'Cre  of  the  san-'ly  wasl^  on  which  thev  were  encamped.  They 
etp:_:i-':nc('.l  ever-.'  alleviation  that  roiikl  be  derived  from  the  at- 
tentions of  I  he  friendly  natives.  These,  b\'  the  gfivernor's  com- 
TTiand,  had  constructed  more  than  a  thousand  huLS  or  booths  of 
hranclies  and  matting,  which  thev  fx.cupit'd  n)  tne  nei^iiborhood 
r,'"  the  crniip,  VIcre  they  jjrei'aa  d  rarioiis  .irticL:;oi  food  for 
\'.iii  i  r.h'c:;  of  ('(irte-  and  his  rHic  "'■s,  wirhonr  nnv  recompense; 
while;  ;!-e  coiiiinon  soldiers  easily  obtaiur-d  a   stinply  tor  them- 

'■'  Las  C'aHas,  Hist,  de  las  Inclias,  :\iS.,  lil).  3,  cap.  no,  -Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist. 

Chici:.,   Al'-i..  ran.  80.  —  Idcin,    Rchi.'i'.nrs.    M  .'-^. —■;-'::',. •i»/ini,   IIi=f.  de   X'leva 

Espann,  MS..  ::!j.  ;2,  c.-.p.  3.  .j. — 'I"-7,oz'>Tn?c.  Cror,.  Mi.-:  j;;i:!.  MS.,c-.t  -.  !0,S. 

"  '{'(■■/<  yiiwc^  ,  f 'ton.  M(;\-ii  ;uia  M.S.,  loc.  (it. — Cainargo,  Hist,  ck  i'iascala. 

MH..  Jxiiuxvi  liiS,  ii;   \.  C!,!,,  i  ,  MS  .  ■.::i,.  Po. 

Mr^i     o    P»  Vo!       1 


ta  s  DISCO  VER  Y  OF  MEXICO. 

selves,  in  exchange  for  such  trifles  as  they  brought  with  tbsi, 
for  barter  Thus  the  camp  was  Uberally  provided  with  meat  and 
fish  dressed  in  many  savory  ways,  with  cakes  of  corn,  bananas, 
pine-apples,  and  divers  hiscious  vegetables  of  the  tropics,  hither- 
to unknown  to  the  Spaniards.  The  soldiers  contrived,  more- 
over, to  obtain  many  little  bits  of  gold,  of  no  great  value,  in- 
deed,  from  the  natives,;  a  traffic  very  displeasing  to  the  parti- 
sans of  Velasquez,  who  considered  it  an  invasion  of  his  rights, 
Cortds,  however,  did  not  think  it  prudent,  in  this  matter,  to  balk 
the  inclinations  of  his  foUowers.^^ 

At  the  expiration  of  seven,  or  eight  days  at  most,  the  Mexican 
embassy  presented  itself  before  the  camp.  It  may  seem  an  in- 
credibly short  space  of  time,  considering  the  distance  of  the 
capital  was  near  seventy  leagues.  But  it  may  be  remembered  that 
tidings  were  carried  there  by  means  of  posts,  as  already  noticed, 
in  the  brief  space  of  four  and  twenty  hours  ;  ^^  and  four  or  five 
days  would  suffice  for  the  descent  of  the  envoys  to  fhe  coast, 
accustomed  as  the  Mexicans  were  to  long  and  rapid  travelling. 
At  all  events,  no  writer  states  the  period,  occupied  by  the 
Indian  emissaries  on  this  occasion,  as  longer  than  that  men 
tioned. 

The  embassy,  consisting  of  two  Aztec  nobles,  was  accompa- 
nied by  the  governor,  Teuhtlile,  and  by  a  hundred  slaves,  bearing 
the  princely  gifts  of  Montezuma.  One  of  the  envoys  had  been 
selected  on  account  of  the  great  resemblance  which,  as  appeared 
from  the  painting  representing  the  camp,  he  bore  to  the  Spanish 
commander.  And  it  is  a  proof  of  the  fidelity  of  the  painting, 
that  the  soldiers  recognized  the  resemblance,  and  always  distin- 
guished the  chief  by  the  name  of  the  "Mexican  Cortes.' 

On  entering  the  general's  pavilion,  the  ambassadors  saluted 
him  and  his  officers  with  the  usual  signs  of  reverence  to  persons 
of  great  consideration,  touching  the  ground  with  their  hands  and 
then  carrying  them  to  their  heads,  while  the  air  was  filled  with 
clouds  of  incense,  which  rose  up  from  the  censers  borne  by  their 
attendants.  Some  delicately  wrought  mats  of  the  country 
{petates)  were  then  unrolled,  and  on  them  the  slaves  displayed 
the  various  articles  they  had  brought.  They  were  of  the  most 
miscellaneous  kind ;  shields,  helmets,  cuirasses,  embossed  with 
plates  and  ornaments  of  pure  gold ;  collars  and  bracelets  of  the 
same  metal,  sandals,  fans,  panaches  and  crests  of  variegated 
feathers,  intermingled  with  gold  and  silver  threads  and  sprinkled 
with  pearls  and  precious  stones  ;  imitations  of  birds  and  animals 

^  Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  39. — Gomara,  Cr6nica,  can. 
rj. — ap.  Barcia,  torn.  II, 

^' Ante,  Book  i,  Chap.  2.  p.  43. 


E.lfBASSV  AND  PRESENTS. 


223 


ill  wrought;  and  cast  gold  and  silver,  of  exquisite  workmanship; 
curtains,  coverlets,  and  robes  of  cotton,  fine  as  silk,  of  rich  and 
various  dyes,  interwoven  with  feather-work  that  rivalled  the  del- 
icacy of  painting,''  There  were  more  than  thirty  loads  of  cotton 
cloth  in  addition.  Among  the  articles  was  the  Spanish  helmet 
sent  to  the  capital,  and  now  returned  filled  to  the  brim  with 
grains  of  gold.  But  the  things  which  excited  the  most  admira- 
tion were  two  circular  plates  of  gold  and  silver,  "  as  large  as  car- 
riage-wheels." One,  representing  the  sun,  was  richly  carved 
with  plants  and  animals, — no  doubt,  denoting  the  Aztec  century. 
It  was  thirty  {.>alms  in  circumference,  and  was  valued  at  twenty 
thousand  pesos  de  oro.  The  silver  wheel,  of  the  same  size, 
weighed  nftv"  marks. ■''^ 

The  Spaniards  could  not  conceal  their  rapture  at  the  exhibi- 
tion of  treasures  v/hich  so  far  surpassed  all  the  dreams  in  which 

1'  From  the  checkered  figure  of  some  of  these  colored  cottons,  Peter  Mar- 
tyr infers,  the  Indians  were  acquainted  with  chess!  He  notices  a  curious 
fabric  :nade  of  the  hair  of  animals,  feathers,  and  cotton  thread,  interwoven 
together.  "  Plumas  illas  et  concinnaut  inter  cuniculorum  viilos  interque  go«- 
ampij  stamina  ordiuntur,  et  intexuiit  operose  adeo,  ut  tjuo  pacto  id  facient  non 
bene  intciiexeriruas."     De  Orbe  Novo,  (Parisiis,  15S7.)  ^ec.  5.  cap.  10. 

^  Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  39 — Oviedo,  Hist,  de  las.  Ind., 
MS.,  lib.  33,  cap.  i. — Las  Casas  Hist,  de  las  Indies,  MR.  \\h.  3.  cap.  T20.-" 
Gomara,  Cronica,  cap.  27.  ap.  Barcia.  torn.  II, — Carta  de  Vera  Cruz,  MS,— 
Herrera,  Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  5,  cap.  5. 

Robertson  cites  Bernal  Diaz  as  reckoning  the  value  of  the  siiver  plrae  at 
20,ooc  pews,  or  about  _,^5.ooo.  (History  of  America.  Vo!.  II.  note  75. )  But 
Bernal  Diaz  speaks  only  of  the  value  of  the  gold  plate,  which  he  estimates 
at  20.000  pesos  de  ortK  a  different  affair  from  the  pesos,  dollars,  or  ounces  of 
silver,  -Aith  which  the  tiistorian  confounds  them.  As  the  mention  of  the  peso 
de  oro  will  often  reciu'  in  tliest  pages,  it  will  be  well  to  make  the  reader 
ac  j'jaintcd  wiih  its  ]')ri7l:)able  value. 

Nothing  is  more  difficult  than  to  ascertain  the  actual  value  of  the  currency 
of  a  distant  age  ;  so  many  circumstances  occur  in  embarrass  the  calculation, 
besides  tnc  general  depreciation  of  the  i)recious  metals,  sucii  as  the  adulter- 
ation  if  specific  coins,  and  the  like. 

.Sen  <x  CleiiKjiicin,  th^  Secretary  of  the  Roval  Academv  of  History,  in  the 
sixth  volmne  ol  its  Memoria.',  has  ct.'mputed  with  great  accuracv  tlie  value  of 
the  diifercnt  denomir-ations  of  the  Si^anidi  curreiicv  at  the  clo.-e  of  ih.e  fif- 
teenth ccr.turv,  the  jieriod  jr.-.!;  precrdir;-  -jiint  >;  the  conquest  cf  M'xiv'..  He 
makes  no  mc:itio:i  of  the/tTiT  ^v  o?o  in  his  t;'?lcs.  B^nt  !;c  a-cer'  rns  Ihe  pre- 
cise valuL  (.;  the  g'lid  duc;a,  which  will  ;o;swcr  (.mr  purpni^e  ;:s  w'!  .  (Memo- 
r' IS  rh;  la  ivcal  Acadeinia  de  Hisioria.  (Madrid.  i8jr,i  trni.  \  !.  liust.  20.) 
Ovii.'c'o,  a  contcinp'^rarv  of  t'r-.:?  ('fi'icii'V'jrs.  it'.fnrms  U'^  tli;it  th'>  fcsodeoro 
and  U\K  i.asl,!:  !Kj  \\  re  di  li-.i;  ^;inie  \:<-.\\:.  and  tl:  it  rvas  [itcciselv  one  third 
^'.f.ittr  t!i-;n  tiif.  ■..'I'lf  of  tiv.  t'n  \.!.  (i!i-i.  ,'■-  ind..  r.i).  d.  cap.  S,  ap.  Kam- 
asio,  .\',iv'  T>''  .}'  .t  \"v.v:-'-:,  iX'trM'-  •■■•''•c..\  to':;.  in.  Now  tlie  ducat,  as 
apjicar-  ..on;  ( '"  iii-.-nrin,  reduced  1.  ■".".'  (av:i  cirrencv,  would  be  equal  to 
ci/ii!;  dolhu.,  ::;,  I  '  v  i!?\---:ivc  --ir'  /  ',■  ■;■','  .-/e  oro.  ff-e<--'forr\  -io.:  ■  fa.tnl  io 
elei ■'n  dollars  ,:,<  I  i;j- 'x'-sc'T'c'H  ler;,''  oi-  .>--,/  f-'U^nfs  .'-..■■■h':-  s'-iiltni's  und  sixpence 
sterlip.:'.  Kc-i.pin  '  this  mi  mind,  u  \:\\\  \)\-  a^y  for  tiic  rt-^uier  to  dvi^'inine  the 
actual  valtie,  \\\  fe.os  de  oro.  'A  any  sum  tiiat  niay  be  hereafter  nicn'ioned. 


224 


DISCO  VER  Y  OF  MEXICO. 


they  had  indulged.  For,  rich  as  were  the  materia's,  they  were 
exceeded — according  to  the  testimony  of  those  who  saw  these 
articles  afterwards  in  Seville,  where  they  could  coolly  examine 
them — by  the  beauty  and  richness  of  the  workmanship.^* 

When  Cortds  and  his  officers  had  completed  their  survey,  the 
ambassadors  courteously  delivered  the  message  of  Montezuma. 
"  It  gave  their  master  great  pleasure,"  they  said,  "  to  hold  this 
communication  with  so  powerful  a  monarch  as  the  King  of 
Spain,  for  whom  he  felt  the  most  profound  respect.  He  regretted 
much  that  he  could  not  enjoy  a  personal  interview  with  the 
Spaniards,  but  the  distance  of  his  capital  was  too  great ;  since 
the  journey  was  beset  with  difftculties,  and  with  too  many  dan- 
gers from  formidable  enemies,  to  make  it  possible.  All  that 
could  be  done,  therefore,  was  for  the  strangers  to  return  to  their 
own  land,  with  the  proofs  thus  afforded  them  of  his  friendly  dis* 
position." 

Cortds  though  much  chagrined  at  this  decided  refusal  of  Mon- 
tezuma  to  admit  his  visit,  concealed  his  mortification  as  he  best 
might,  and  politely  expressed  his  sense  of  the  emperor's  munifi- 
cence. *' It  made  him  only  the  more  desirous,"  he  said,  "to 
have  a  personal  interview  with  him.  He  should  feel  it,  indeed, 
impossible  to  present  himself  again  before  his  own  sovereign, 
without  having  accomplished  this  great  object  of  his  voyage  ; 
and  one,  who  had  sailed  over  two  thousand  leagues  of  ocean, 
held  lightly  the  perils  and  fatigues  of  so  short  a  journey  by 
land."  He  once  more  requested  them  to  become  the  bearers  of 
his  message  to  their  master,  together  with  a  slight  additional 
token  of  his  respect. 

This  consisted  of  a  few  fine  Holland  shirts,  a  Florentine  gob- 
let, gilt  and  somewhat  curiously  enamelled,  with  some  toys  of 
little  value, — a  sorry  return  for  the  solid  magnificence  of  the 
royal  present.  The  ambassadors  may  have  thought  as  much. 
At  least,  they  showed  no  alacrity  in  charging  themselves  either 
with  the  present  or  the  message  ;  and,  on  quitting  the  Castilian 

^®  "  Cierto  cosas  de  ver !"  exclaims  Las  Casas,  who  saw  them  with  the 
Emperor  Charles  V.  in  Seville,  \\\  1520.  "  Quedaron  todos  los  que  vieron 
aquestas  cosas  tan  ricas  y  tan  bien  arti^iadas  y  ermosisimas  como  de  cosas 
nunca  vistas,"  &c.  (Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS.,  lib.  3,  cap.  120.)  '"  Muy  her- 
mosas"  ;  says  Oviedo,  who  saw  them  in  Valladolid,  and  describes  the  great 
wheals  more  minutely;  "  todo  era  mucho  de  verl"  "Hist,  de  las  Indias, 
MS.,  loc.  cit. )  The  inquisitive  Martvr,  who  examined  them  carefully,  re- 
marks, yet  more  emphatically,  "  Si  quid  unquara  honoris  humana  ingenia  in 
huiuscemodi  artibus  sunt  adepta,  principatum  iure  merito  ista  consequentur. 
Aurum,  gemmasque  non  admiror  cjuidein,  cjua  industria,  quove  studio  superet 
opus  materiam,  stnpeo.  Mille  figuras  et  facies  mille  prospexi  quae  scribere 
nequeo.  Quid  oculos  hominum  sua  pulchritudine  aeque  possit  alicere  meo 
iudicio  vidi  nunquam."     De  Orbe  Novo,  dec.  4,  cap.  9. 


EMBASSY  AXD   r RESENTS. 


225 


quarters,  repeated  their  assurance  that  the  general's  application 
would  be  unavailing. 21 

The  splendid  treasure,  which  now  lay  dazzling  the  eves  of  the 
Spaniards,  raised  in  their  bosoms  very  different  emotions,  ac- 
cording to  the  difference  of  their  characters.  Some  it  stimulat- 
ed with  the  ardent  desire  to  strike  at  once  into  the  interior,  and 
possess  themselves  of  a  country  which  teemed  with  such  bound- 
less stores  of  wealth.  Others  looked  on  it  as  the  evidence  of  a 
^ower  altogetlier  too  formidable  to  be  encountered  with  their 
present  insignificant  force.  'J'hey  thought,  therefore,  it  would 
be  most  prudent  to  return  and  report  their  proceedings  to  the 
governor  of  Cuba,  where  preparations  could  be  made  commen- 
surate with  so  ^.'ast  an  undertaking.  There  can  be  little  doubt 
as  to  ilio  iuii^ression  made  on  the  bold  spirit  of  Cortds.  on  which 
difhculties  ever  operated  as  incentives,  rather  than  discourage- 
ments, to  enterprise.  But  he  prudently  said  nothing. — at  least 
in  public, — preferring  that  so  important  a  movement  sliould  flow 
from  the  deiermir.ation  of  his  v.'hole  army,  rather  than  from  his 
own  individual  impulse. 

Meanwhile  the  soldiers  suffered  greatly  from  the  inconvenien- 
ces of  their  position  amidst  burning  sands  and  the  pestilent  ef- 
fluvia of  the  neighboring  marshes,  while  the  venomous  insects 
of  these  hot  regions  left  them  no  repose,  day  or  night.  Thirty 
of  their  number  had  already  sickened  and  died ;  a  loss  that 
could  ill  be  afforded  by  the  little  band.  To  add  to  their  troubles, 
the  coldness  of  the  Mexican  chiefs  liad  extended  to  their  foiloW' 
ers  ;  Tud  the  supplies  for  the  camp  were  .;Ot  only  much  diminish- 
ed, but  the  prices  set  on  thera  were  exorbitant.  The  position 
was  equally  unfavorable  for  the  shipping,  which  lay  in  an  open 
Toanstead,  exposed  to  the  fury  cf  the  first  norie  which  should 
sweep  the  Mexican  Gulf. 

The  general  was  indr.ced  by  those  circumstances  to  dispatch 
tv.'o  vessels,  under  Francisco  de  Montejo,  with  the  experienced 
Alaminos  for  his  pilot,  to  explore  the  coast  in  a  northerly  direc- 
tion, and  see  if  a  safer  pnrr  and  more  commodious  O'larters  foi 
the  army  could  not  be  found  there. 

After  the  lapse  of  ten  d::'.-s  tlie  'Alexican  envoys  returned. 
'i'.'vy  eiitered  the  Si'iinisli  qiiartcrs  wit'n  the  ---mie  roi  aiality  as 
on  t'"'-  ffTiner  visit,  briiring  v'i'b.  ih'in  an  adonional  present  of 
;:(  ii  stuffs  and  inetaliic  ()rr,Lu;iei;t:N  v.l  'eh,  tb'^tigh  inferior  in 
vaiii*^  to  those  before  brought,  v/en;  estimated  at  three  thousand 
ou!!C''S  of  gold.      Besides  ihce,  there  wcie  four  precious  stones 

-^  Las  Cana^,  Hk!..  ck  ias  Incias.  AIS.,  iih.  3,  cap.  121  - -Bcrnai  Diar^ 
hist  f!c  la  Contiiiista,  cap.  3<). — lxtliixf)vhit!,  Hist.  Cliicl;.,  M.S.,  cJiji  So,— 
Goniara.  Cr^nic;.    cv,    r   ,  o  .  .    f;.ii':ia,  fjin.   II. 


9t6  AZTEC  CrVTLIZA  TION. 

of  considerable  size,  resembling  emeralds,  called  by  the  natives 
chakhuites,  each  of  which,  as  they  assured  the  Spaniards,  was  worth 
more  than  a  load  of  gold,  and  was  designed  as  a  marie  of  particular 
respect  for  the  Spanish  monarch.^  Unfortunately  they  were 
not  worth  as  many  loads  of  earth  in  Europe. 

Montezuma's  answer  was  in  substance  the  same  as  before.  It 
contained  a  positive  prohibition  for  the  strangers  to  advance 
nearer  to  the  capital ;  and  expressed  the  confidence,  that,  now 
they  had  obtained  what  they  had  most  desired,  they  would  re* 
turn  to  their  own  country  without  unnecessary  delay.  Cortds  re- 
ceived this  unpalatable  response  courteously,  though  somewhat 
coldly,  and,  turning  to  his  officers,  exclaimed,  "This  is  a  rich 
and  powerful  prince  indeed  ;  yet  it  shall  go  hard,  but  we  will 
one  day  pay  him  a  visit  in  his  capital  !  " 

While  they  were  conversing,  the  bell  struck  for  vespers.  At 
the  sound,  the  soldiers,  throwing  themselves  on  their  knees,  of- 
fered up  their  orisons  before  the  large  wooden  cross  planted  in 
the  sands.  As  the  Aztec  chiefs  gazed  with  curious  surprise, 
Cortds  thought  it  a  favorable  occasion  to  impress  them  with  what 
he  conceived  to  be  a  principal  object  of  his  visit  to  the  country. 
Father  Olmedo  accordingly  expounded,  as  briefly  and  clearly  as 
he  could,  the  great  doctrines  of  Christianity,  touching  on  the 
atonement,  the  passion,  and  the  resurrection,  and  concluding 
with  assuring  his  astonished  audience,  that  it  was  their  intention 
to  extirpate  the  idolatrous  practices  of  the  nation,  and  to  sub- 
stitute the  pure  worship  of  the  true  God.  He  then  put  into  their 
hands  a  little  image  of  the  Virgin  with  the  infant  Redeemer, 
requesting  them  to  place  it  in  their  temples  instead  of  their  san- 
guinary deities.  How  far  the  Aztec  lords  comprehended  the  mys- 
teries of  the  faith,  as  conveyed  through  the  double  version  of 
Aguilar  and  Marina,  or  how  well  they  perceived  the  subtle 
distinctions  between  their  own  images  and  those  of  the  Roman 
Church,  we  are  not  informed.  There  is  reason  to  fear,  however, 
that  the  seed  fell  on  warren  ground  ;  for,  when  the  homily  of 
the  good  father  ended,  they  withdrew  with  an  air  of  dubious 
reserve  very  different  from  their  friendly  manners  at  the  tirst 
interview.  The  same  night  every  hut  was  deserted  by  the 
natives,  and  the  Spaniards  saw  themselves  suddenly  cut  off 
from  supplies  in  the  midst  of  a  desolate  wilderness.     The  move- 

^  Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  dc  la  Conquista,  cap.  40. 

Father  Sahagun  thus  describes  the.se  stones,  so  precious  in  Mexico  thai 
the  use  of  them  was  interdicted  to  any  but  the  nobles.  *'  Las  chaichuites  son 
verdcs  y  no  transparentes  mezcladasde  bianco,  usanlas  mucho  los  principales. 
trayendolas  k  las  mufiecas  atadas  en  hilo,  y  aquello  es  sefial  de  que  es  pep 
•ona  nobl«i  el  que  las  trae,"     Hist   de  Nueva  Espafia,  lib.  11,  cap  8, 


SPANISH  EiYCAAfPMENT. 


Z2J 


ment  had  so  suspicious  an  appearance,  that  Cortes  apprehended 
an  attack  would  be  made  on  his  quarters,  and  took  precautions 
accordingly.     But  none  was  meditated. 

The  army  was  at  length  cheered  by  the  return  of  Montejo 
from  his  exploring  expedition,  after  an  absence  of  twelve  days. 
He  had  run  down  the  Gulf  as  far  as  Panuco,  where  he  experi 
enced  such  heavy  gales,  in  attempting  to  double  that  headland, 
that  he  was  driven  back,  and  had  nearly  foundered.  In  the 
whole  course  of  the  voyage  he  had  found  only  one  place  toler- 
ably sheltered  from  the  north  winds.  Fortunately,  the  adjacent 
country,  well  watered  by  fresh,  running  streams,  afforded  a  favor- 
able position  for  the  camp  ;  and  thither,  after  some  delibera- 
tion, it  was  determined  to  repair.'is 

^  Camargo,  Hist,  de  Tlascala,  MS. — Las  Casas,  Hist  de  las  Indias,  MS., 
lib.  3,  cap.  121. — Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  40,  41. — Herrera^ 
Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  5,  cap.  6. — Gomara.  Cronica,  cap.  39,  ap.  Barda, 
torn.  IL 


aa8  DISCO  ver  y  of  Mexico, 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Troubles  in  the  Camp, — Plan  of  a  Colony. — Management 
OF  Cortes. — March  to  Cempoalla. — Proceedings  with  the 
Natives. — Foundation  of  Vera  Cruz. 

1519- 

There  is  no  situation  which  tries  so  severely  the  patience  and 
discipline  of  the  soldier,  as  a  life  of  idleness  in  camp,  where  his 
thoughis,  instead  of  being  bent  on  enterprise  and  action,  are 
fastened  on  himself  and  the  inevitable  privations  and  dangers 
of  his  condition.  This  was  particuiariy  the  case  in  the  present 
instance,  where,  in  addition  to  the  evils  of  a  scanty  subsistence, 
the  troops  suffered  from  excessive  heat,  swarms  of  venomous 
insects,  and  the  other  annoyances  of  a  sultry  clnnate.  Tiiey  were, 
moreover,  far  from  possessing  the  character  of  regular  forces, 
tramed  to  subordination  under  a  commander  whom  they  had 
long  been  taught  to  reverence  and  obey.  They  were  soldiers  of 
fortune,  embarked  with  him  in  an  adventure  in  which  all  seem 
to  have  an  equal  stake^  and  they  regarded  their  captain— the 
captain  of  a  day  —  a?  little  more  than  an  equal. 

There  was  a  growing  discontent  among  the  men  at  their  longer 
residence  in  this  strange  land.  They  were  still  moie  dissatisfied 
on  learning  the  general's  intention  to  remove  to  the  neighbor- 
hood v>i  the  port  discovered  by  Montejo.  "  It  was  time  to  re- 
turn," they  said,  "and  report-  what  had  been  done  to  the  governor 
of  Cuba,  and  not  to  linger  on  these  barren  shores  until  they  hnd 
brought  the  -vbole  Mexican  °mpire  on  their  heads!"  Cortes 
evaded  their  importunities  a'^  well  as  he  could,  assurtnir  them 
there  was  no  cause  for  de?pondencv.  "  Everything  S!>  iar  had 
had  gone  on  prosperouslv.  and.  when  they  had  taken  u;..  a  more 
favorable  position,  there  v/ns  no  reason  to  doubt  they  niight  still 
Cf  'i'lnue  tlie  same  profitable  intercourse  with  the  natives." 

'v'-.'hil?  this  V. as  pjissi'TfT.  five  Indians  made  their  appearance 
in  lii;:  camp  one  morning,  and  were  brought  to  the  general's 
tent.  M'hen"  dress  and  whole  appearance  were  difTereni  fr<;m 
those  o;'  :iie  Mexicans.  They  wore  rings  of  gold,  and  gems  ol 
a  ■)riidii  blue  stone  in  their  ears  and  nostrils,  while  a  gold  leaf 
delicately  wrought  was   attached  to  the  under  lip.     Marina  wai^ 


PL  AX  OF  A  COLO.VV. 


329 


unable  to  comprehend  their  language,  but  on  her  addressing  them 
in  Aztec,  two  of  them,  it  was  found,  could  converse  in  that  tongue 
They  said  they  were  natives  of  Cempoalla,  the  chief  town  of 
the  Totonacs,  a  powerful  nation  who  had  come  upon  the  great 
plateau  many  centuries  back,  and,  descending  its  eastern  slope, 
settled  along  the  sierras  and  broad  plains  which  skirt  the  Mex- 
ican Gulf  towards  the  north.  Theii  country  was  one  of  the  re- 
cent conquests  of  the  Aztecs,  and  they  experienced  such  vexa- 
tious oppressions  from  their  conquerors  as  made  them  very  impa- 
tient of  the  yoke.  They  ii;formed  Cortds  of  these  and  other  par- 
ticulars. The  fame  of  the  Spaniards  had  reached  their  master, 
who  sent  these  messengers  to  request  the  presence  of  the  wonder- 
ful strangers  in  his  capital. 

This  communication  was  eagerly  listened  to'  by  the  general, 
who,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  possessed  of  none  of  those  facts, 
laid  before  the  reader,  respecting  the  internal  condition  of  the 
kingdom,  which  he  had  no  reason  to  suppose  other  than  strong 
and  united.  An  important  truth  now  flashed  on  his  mind  ;  as 
his  quick  eye  described  in  this  spirit  of  discontent  a  potent 
lever,  by  the  aid  of  which  he  might  hope  to  overturn  this  bar- 
baric empire.  —  He  received  the  mission  of  the  Totonacs  most 
graciously,  and,  after  informing  himself,  as  far  as  possible,  oS 
their  dispositions  and  resources,  dismissed  them  with  presents, 
promising  soon  to  pay  a  visit  to  their  lord.' 

Meanwhile,  his  personal  friends,  among  whom  may  be  particu- 
larly  mentioned  Alonso  Hernandez  Puertocarrero,  Christoval  de 
Olid,  Alonso  de  Avila,  Pedro  de  Alvarado  and  his  brothers,  were 
very  busy  in  persuading  the  troops  to  take  such  measures  as 
should  enable  Cortes  to  go  forward  in  those  ambitious  plans,  for 
which  he  had  no  warrant  from  the  powers  of  Velasquez.  "  To 
return  now,"  they  said,  "  was  to  abandon  the  enterprise  on  the 
threshold,  which,  under  such  a  leader,  must  conduct  to  glory 
and  incalculable  riches.  To  return  to  Cuba  would  be  to  sur- 
render to  the  greedy  governor  the  little  gains  they  had  already 
got.  The  only  way  was  to  persuade  the  general  to  establish  a 
permanent  colony  in  the  country,  the  government  of  which  would 
take  the  conduct  of  matters  into  its  own  hands,  and  provide  for 
the  interests  of  its  members.  It  was  true,  Cortds  had  no  such 
authority  from  Velasquez.  But  the  interests  of  the  sovereigns, 
which  were  paramount  to  every  other,  imperatively  demanded  it." 

These  conferences  could  not  be  conducted  so  secretly,  though 
held  by  night,  as  not  to  reach  the  ears  of  the  friends  of  Velasquez.* 

1  Berrral  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  41. — Las  Casas,  Hist,  de  las 
Indias,  MS.,  lib.  3,  cap  121. — Gomara,  CnJiiica,  cap.  28. 

•  Tb«  letter  from  the  cabMdo  of   Vera  Cruz  savs  nothing  of  these  midnigh* 


f  ^O  DISCO  VF.K  V  OF  MEXICO, 

They  remonstrated  against  the  proceedings,  as  insidious  and 
disloyal.  They  accused  the  general  of  instigating  thern  ;  and, 
calling  on  them  to  take  measures  without  delav  for  the  return  of 
the  troops  to  Cuba,  announced  their  own  intention  to  depart, 
with  such  followers  as  still  remained  true  to  the  governor, 

Cortds,  instead  of  taking  umbrage  at  this  high-handed  pro- 
ceeding, or  even  answerin{;  in  the  same  haughty  tone,  mildly  re- 
plied, "that  nothing  was  further  from  his  desire  than  to  exceed 
his  instructions.  He,  indeed  preferred  to  remain  in  :he  coun- 
try, and  continue  his  profitable  intercourse  with  the  natives. 
But,  since  the  army  thought  otherwise,  h^.  should  defer  to  their 
opinion,  and  give  orders  to  return,  as  they  desired."  On  the 
following  morning,  proclamation  was  made  for  the  troops  to 
hold  themselves" in  readiness  to  embark  at  once  on  board  liie  lieet, 
which  was  to  sail  forCuba,** 

Great  was  the  sensation  caused  by  their  general's  order.  Sven 
many  of  those  before  clamorous  for  it,  with  the  usual  caprice  of 
men  wnose  wishes  are  too  easily  gratified,  now  regretted  it.  The 
partisans  of  Cortes  were  loud  in  their  remonstrances.  "They 
were  betrayed  by  the  general,"  they  cried,  and,  thronging  round 
his  tent,  called  on  him  to  countermand  his  orders.  "  We  came 
here,"  said  they,  "  expecting  to  form  a  settlement,  if  the  state 
of  the  country  authorized  it.  Now  it  seems  you  have  no  warrant 
from  the  governor  to  make  one.  But  there  are  interests,  higher 
than  those  of  Velasquez,  which  demand  it.  These  territories 
are  not  his  property,  but  were  discovered  for  the  Sovereigns;* 
and  it  is  necessary  to  plant  a  colony  to  watch  over  their  inter* 
ests,  instead  of  wasting  time   in  idle  barter,  or,    still  worse,  of 

conferences.     BernaJ  Diaz,  who  was  privy  to  them,  is  a  sufficient  authority. 

See  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  42. 

*  Gomara,  Cronica,  cap.  30. — Las  Casas,  Hist,  de  las  Indias.  MS.,  lib.  3 
cap.  121. — Ixtlilxochit],  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  80. — Bemal  Diaz,  Ibid.,loCi 
cit. — Declaracion  de  Puertocarrero,  MS. 

The  deposition  of  a  respectable  person  like  Pnertocarrero,  taken  in  the 
course  of  the  following  year  after  his  return  to  Spain,  is  a  doc'inic'.t  of  such 
authority,  that  I  have  transferred  it  entire,  in  the  original,  to  ti;e  Appendix, 
Fart  2,  Ko.  7. 

*  Sometimes  we  find  the  Spanish  writers  referring  to  "the  sovereigns," 
sometimes  to  "  the  emperc.r  "  ;  in  the  former  case,  intending  queen  Joanna, 
the  crazv  mother  of  Charles  V.,  as  well  as  himself.  Indeed,  all  public  acts 
:-v.(\  I'-rdinances  rin  in  the  name  of  both.  The  title  of  "'  Highness,"  which, 
i-jV  1  ^he  r-ri^n  of  Charles  V.,  had  usualiy — not  uniformly,  as  Robertson 
?ri'i:i;/i;tes  (History  of  Charles  V.,  vol.  11.  p.  59) — been  applied  to  the  sover- 
cii'n.  'Mivv  gradually  gave  way  to  that  of  '*  Majesty,"'  which  Charles  affected 
.■  fter  bis  flection  to  the  imperial  throne.  The  same  title  is  occasionally 
'ound  in  the  correspondence  of  the  Great  Captain,  and  other  courtiers  of  kbB 
reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella, 


PL  AX  OF  A   COLONY. 


23X 


returning,  in  the  pr^  .jnt  state  of  affairs,  to  Cuba.  If  you  re^ 
fuse,"  tiiey  concluded,  '*  we  shall  orotest  against  your  conduct 
as  disloyal  to  their  Highnesses." 

Cones  received  this  remonstrance  with  the  embarrassed  air 
of  one  by  whom  it  was  altogether  unexpected.  He  modestly 
requested  time  for  deliberation,  and  promised  to  give  his  answer 
on  the  following  day.  At  the  time  appointed,  he  called  the  troops 
together,  and  made  them  a  brief  address.  "There  was  no  one," 
he  said,  "  if  he  knew  his  own  heart,  more  deeply  devoted  than 
himself  to  the  welfare  of  his  sovereigns,  and  the  glory  of  the 
Spanish  name.  He  had  not  only  expended  his  all,  but  incurred 
heavy  debts,  to  meet  the  charges  of  this  expedition,  and  had  hoped 
to  reimburse  himself  by  continuing  his  traffic  with  the  Mexicans. 
But  if  the  soldiers  thought  a  different  course  advisable,  he  w'as 
ready  to  postpone  his  own  advantage  to  the  good  of  the  state."  ' 
He  concluded  by  declaring  his  willingness  to  take  measures  for 
settling  a  colony  in  the  tia7ne  of  the  Spanish  sovereigns^  and  to 
nominate  a  magistracy  to  preside  over  it.*^ 

For  the  alcaldes  he  selected  Puertocarrero  and  Montejo,  the 
former  cavalier  his  fast  friend,  and  the  latter  the  friend  of  Velas- 
quez, and  chosen  for  that  very  reason  ;  a  stroke  of  policy  which 
perfectly  succeeded.  The  regidores,  alguacil,  treasurer,  and  other 
functionaries,  were  then  appointed,  all  of  them  his  personal 
friends  and  adherents.  They  were  regularly  sworn  into  office, 
and  the  new  city  received  the  title  of  Villa  Rica  de  Vera  Cruz, 
"The  Rich  Town  of  the  True  Cross";  a  name  which  was  con- 
sidered as  happily  intin)a  iiig  that  union  of  spiritual  and  temporal 
interests  to  which  the  arni=^  cif  ihe  Spanish  adventurers  in  the 
New  World  were  to  be  de\"rjted.'  Thus,  by  a  single  stroke  of 
the  pen.  as  it  were,  the  camp  was  transformed  into  a  civil  com- 

6  According  to  Robertson,  Cortes  told  his  men  that  he  had  proposed  to 
establish  a  colony  on  the  coast,  before  marching  into  the  country  ;  but  h© 
abandoned  his  design,  at  their  entreaties  to  set  out  at  once  on  the  expedition 
In  the  verv  next  page,  we  find  him  organizing  this  same  colony.  (History  of 
America,  vol.  II.  pp.  241.  242.)  The  historian  would  have  been  saved  this 
inconsistency,  if  he  had  followed  either  of  the  authorities  whom  he  cites, 
Bernal  Diaz'and  Herrera.  or  the  letter  from  Vera  Cruz,  of  which  he  had  % 
copv.     They  all  concur  in  the  statement  in  the  text. 

'"^Las  Cas'as,  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  M.S.,  lib.  3,  cap.  122.— Carta  de  Vera 
Cruz,  MS  — Declaracion  de  Montejo,  MS.— Declaracion  dc  Puertocarrero, 
MS. 

"Our  general,  after  some  urging,  acquiesced,"  says  the  blunt  old  soldier, 
Bernal  Diaz;  "for.  as  the  proverb  says,  'You  ask  me  to  do  what  I  have  al- 
ready made  up  my  mind  to.'"  Tu  me  lo  ri4ei;as  /  yo  me  h  quiero.  His^.  d? 
la  Conquista,  cap.  42. 

"  According  to  Bernal  Diaz,  the  title  of  "  Vera  Cruz"  was  intended  to  om- 
memorate  their  landing  on  Good  Friday.     Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  42. 


»32 


DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO. 


munity,  and  the  whole  frame-work  and  even  title  of  the  city  were 

arranged,  before  the  site  of  it  had  been  settled. 

The  new  municipality  were  not  slow  in  coming  together;  when 
Corlds  presented  himself,  cap  in  hand,  before  that  august  body, 
and,  laying  the  powers  of  Velasquez  on  the  table,  respectfully 
tendered  the  resignation  of  his  olfice  of  Captain-General,  "  which, 
indeed,"  he  said,  ''  had  necessarily  expired,  since  the  authority 
of  the  governor  was  now  superseded  by  that  of  the  magistracy 
of  Villa  Eica  de  Vera  Cruz."  He  then,  with  a  profound  obeis- 
ance, left  the  apartment.'* 

Fhe  council,  after  a  decent  time  spent  in  deliberation,  again 
reciuested  his  presence.  ''There  was  no  one,"  they  said,  "who, 
on  mature  redection,  appeared  to  them  so  well  qualified  to  take 
charge  of  (he  interests  of  the  community,  both  in  peace  and  in 
war,  as  himself;  and  they  unanimously  named  him,  in  behalf  of 
their  Catholic  Highnesses,  Captain  General  and  Chief  Justice 
of  ihe  colony."  He  was  further  empowered  to  draw,  on  his  own 
account,  one  fifth  of  the  gold  and  silver  which  might  hereafter 
be  obtained  by  commerce  or  conquest  from  the  natives.^  Thus 
clothed  with  supreme  civil  and  military  jurisdiction,  Cortds  was 
not  backward  in  exerting  his  authority.  He  found  speedy  oc- 
casion for  It. 

Tne  traiv-actions  above  described  had  succeeded  each  other 
so  rapiflly,  mat  the  governor's  partv  seemed  to  be  taken  by  sur- 
prise, and  had  formed  no  plan  of  opposition.  When  the  last 
measure  was  carried,  however,  they  broke  forth  into  the  most 
ind'gnant  and  opprobrious  in\-ec'aves,  denouncing  the  whole  as 
a  systcnalic  conspiracy  against  Velasqu;:z.  These  accusations 
led  to  rccrimmat'on  from  tlic  soldiers  of  the  other  side,  until 
from  wcorcls  they  nearly  proceeded  to  blows.  Some  of  tiie  prin- 
cipal cavaliers,  among  them  Velasquez  cie  Leon,  a  kinsman  of 
the  governor,  Kscobar,  h's  j)n:';e,  r-.r.d  Diego  de  Ordaz,  were  so 
active  in  insiigaung  these  tuibuient  movements;  '.iiat  Cortes  took 

^  Soil's,  whose  taste  for  speech-makini^  r.iigut  have  satisr.ed  even  the  Abbe 
Mabiy,  (See  his  Treatise,  "■  De  hi  ManiiLre  u'eorire  I'llisioire,'','  lias  put  a 
very  flourishing  harangue  oi;  this  occasion  into  the  nioutli  of  his  hero,  of 
wb.ich  there  is  not  a  vestige  in  aiiv  contemporary  account.  (Conquista,  lib. 
2.  cap.  7.)  Dr.  Robertson  has  iransierreci  it  to  his  ovrn  eloquent  pages, 
wiih'jut  ciiiiig  his  aiitiior.  inieecl  \viio.  considering  he  came  a  century  and  a 
hi.f  ifrer  tiie  C-'n'iue.-t.  inn^t  be  adowcd  to  be  noi  the  !:iest,  especially  when 
11:=  'in  y  v(juc':ier  for  a  fact. 

"  i.o  pe...r  de  todo  qn.e  le  oir;rga;;^o=-."  says  Bernal  Diaz,  somewhat 
peevish;;.-,  was,  "  que  la  dariamos  el  quinto  del  oro  de  io  que  se  huuiesse, 
desijucs  de  s.icado  el  Iver.l  (juinio. "'  iifist,  de  la  (Joncjuista,  cap  42.)  The 
letter  from  Vera  ( irnz  s:;vs  nothing  of  this  fifth.  1'he  reader,  who  would  see 
the  whole  account  of  this  remarkable  transaction  in  the  original,  may  find  it 
in  Appendix,  Part  2,  Ao.  8. 


MA.VAGE.VEXT  OF  CO/U'ES. 


■■iZ 


the  bold  measure  of  putting  them  all  in  irons,  and  sending  them 

on  board  liie  vessels.  He  then  dispersed  the  common  file  by 
detaching  many  of  them  witii  a  strong  party  under  Alvarado  to 
forage  the  neighboring  country,  and  bring  home  provisions  for 
the  destitute  camp. 

During  their  absence,  every  argument  that  cupidity  or  ambition 
could  suggest  was  used  to  win  the  refractory  to  his  views.  Prom- 
ises, and  even  gold,  it  is  said,  were  liberally  lavislied  ;  till,  by 
degrees,  their  understandings  were  opened  to  a  clearer  viev,  of 
the  merits  of  the  case.  And  when  the  foraging  party  reappeared 
with  abundance  of  poultry  and  vegetables,  and  the  cravings  of 
the  si'jniaoh — tnat  great  latxiratory  of  disaltection.  whether  in 
canip  vjr  capital — were  appeased,  good-humor  returned  wiih  good 
cheer,  and  the  rival  factions  embraced  one  another  as  com.pan- 
ions  in  arms,  pledged  to  a  common  cause.  Even  the  high-mettled 
hidalgos  on  board  the  vessels  did  not  long  withstand  the  general 
tide  of  reconciliation,  but  one  by  one  gave  in  their  acihesion  to 
the  new  government.  What  is  more  remarkable  is  that  this 
forced  conversion  was  not  a  hollow  one,  but  from  this  time  for- 
ward several  of  these  very  cavaliers  became  the  most  steady  and 
de\-oted  partisans  of  Cortes.^'-' 

Such  was  the  address  of  this  extraordinary  man,  and  such  the 
ascendency  whicii  m  a  few  nionihs  he  had  acquired  over  these 
wild  and  turbulent  spirits  !  Bv  this  ingenious  tiansformation  of 
a  military  into  a  civil  community,  he  had  secured  a  new  and 
effectual  basis  for  future  operations.  Ke  might  now  go  forward 
vdtliout  fear  of  check  or  control  from  a  superior, — at  least  from 
any  other  superior  than  the  Crowv!,  under  which  alone  he  held 
his  commission.  In  accomplishing  this,  instead  of  incurring  the 
charge  of  usurpation,  or  of  transcending  his  legitimate  powers, 
he  had  transferred  the  responsibility,  in  a  great  measure,  to  those 
who  had  unposed  on  him  the  necessity  of  action.  iBy  this  step, 
moreover,  he  had  linked  the  fortunes  of  his  followers  indissolubly 

''■*  Carta  de  Vera  Cruz,  IVfS. — Gompra,  Cronica,  cap.  y^,  3r. — \  as  Ca  as. 
Hist,  d-  ri.,  Indian.  MS.,  lib.  3,  cap.  i  22.  — IxtIii\i.cliUi."i  l:i>.t.  <.'uL;u,  l:'^' . . 
cap.  80.— l;Lrnal  Diaz,  Ilisu  cic  1..  Cuiiqiiista,  cap-  42. — Dcciaiaciont^  de 
M'.intej  J  \'  Puertocarrcro,  MSS. 

Fn  li.e  prucfss  f.f  Narv.:.cz  aL'ainst  Coru's.  the  laiu-r  i:,  a'..-.iiM.c'  of  hciiig 
{,i.)--c*--i.-d  w'tli  tlic  l)e\il,  ai  (",-,l\-  I.viciiVr  louIcI  ha'.c- p:aiii' d  i-.i;n  thus  tlie 
aff'.-rtiMiis  of  til  e  soldi' rv.  (' I  )f  rn.'tnda  d- Xarvaiz,  MS.;  Soli's,  on  the  other 
ha;i-!,  s(  cs  nothir.g  hu!  ;_o(id  faifi.  atifl  i')vali\-  in  iliu  contiucl  ot  the  general, 
w!io  a'tcd  frotii  a  sr-ns(;  of  dntv!  ( Coiujur-ta,  lilj.  2.  cap.  6,7.)  Soils  is 
even  a  inorf-  steady  a[)o]otrist  i"',  his  lu-ro.  than  his  n\v!i  cha])la'n,  Gomar^ 
or  the  worth'.-  rnaj^istratcs  of  Vera  (!riiz.  A  rnor(;  impartial  testimony  than 
cither,  ])rrih;ii,;v.  nnv  hi  trathered  fro'ii  honest  iScrnal  I'tiaz,  so  often  quoted. 
A  hearty  cham;)ioii  ff  the  cau.se,  ho  was  by  no  means  blind  to  the  defect.s  nor 
the  merits  of  hi.i  leader. 


«34 


DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO. 


with  his  own.  They  had  taken  their  chance  with  him,  and, 
whether  for  weal  or  for  woe,  must  abide  the  consequences.  He 
was  no  longer  limited  to  the  narrow  concerns  of  a  sordid  traffic, 
but,  sure  of  their  cooperation,  might  now  boldly  meditate,  and 
gradually  disclose,  those  lofty  schemes  which  he  had  formed  in 
his  own  bosom  for  the  conquest  of  an  empire. ^^ 

Harmony  being  thus  restored,  Cortes  sent  his  heavy  guns  on 
board  the  fleet,  and  ordered  it  to  coast  along  the  shore  to  the 
north  as  far  as  Chiahuitztla,  the  town  near  which  the  destined 
port  of  the  new  city  was  situated  ;  proposing,  himself,  at  the  head 
of  his  troops,  to  visit  Cempoalla,  on  the  march.  The  road  lay 
for  some  miles  across  the  dreary  plains  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  modern  Vera  Cruz.  In  this  sandy  waste  no  signs  of  veg- 
etation met  their  eyes,  which,  however,  were  occasionally  re- 
freshed by  glimpses  of  the  blue  Atlantic,  and  by  the  distant  view 
of  the  magnificent  Orizaba,  towering,  with  his  spotless  diadem 
of  snow,  far  above  his  colossal  brethren  of  the  Andes.  ^^  As  they 
advanced,  the  country  gradually  assumed  a  greener  and  richer 
aspect.  They  crossed  a  river,  probably  a  tributary  of  the  Rio  de 
la  Antigua^  with  difficulty,  on  rafts,  and  on  some  broken  canoes 
that  were  lying  on  the  banks.  They  now  came  in  view  of  very 
different  scenery, — wide-rolling  plains  covered  with  a  rich  carpet 
of  verdure,  and  overshadowed  by  groves  of  cocoas  and  feathery 
palms,  among  whose  tall,  slender  stems  were  seen  deer  and  va- 
rious wild  animals  with  which  the  Spaniards  were  unacquainted. 
Some  of  the  horsemen  gave  chase  to  the  deer,  and  wounded,  but 

^1  This  may  appear  rather  indifferent  logic  to  those  who  consider  that 
Cortes  appointed  the  very  body,  who,  in  turn,  appointed  him  to  the  command. 
But  the  affectation  of  legal  forms  afforded  him  a  thin  varnish  for  his  pro- 
ceedings, which  served  his  purpose,  for  the  present  at  least,  with  the  troops. 
For  the  future,  he  trusted  to  his  good  star, — in  other  words,  to  the  success 
of  his  enterprise, —  to  vindicate  his  conduct  to  the  Emperor.  He  did  not 
miscalculate. 

^'^  The  name  of  the  mountain  is  not  given,  and  probably  was  not  known, 
but  the  minute  description  in  the  MS.  of  Vera  Cruz  leaves  no  doubt  that  it 
was  the  one  mentioned  in  the  text,  "  Entre  las  quales  asf  una  que  excede 
en  mucha  altura  a  todas  las  otras  y  de  ella  se  vee  y  descubre  gran  parte  de 
la  mar  y  de  la  tierra,  y  es  tan  alta,  que  si  el  dia  no  es  bicn  claro,  no  se  puede 
de  divisar  ni  ver  lo  alto  de  ella,  porque  de  la  mitad  arriba  esta  toda  cubierta 
de  nubes:  y  algunos  veces,  cuando  hace  muy  claro  dia,  se  vce  per  cima  de 
las  dichas  nubes  lo  alto  de  ella,  y  esta  tan  bianco,  quelo  jusgamos  por  nieve." 
(Carta  de  Vera  Cruz,  MS.)  This  huge  volcano  was  called  Citlaltepetl,  or 
*'  Star-mountain,'  by  the  Mexicans, — perhaps  from  the  fire  which  once 
issued  from  its  conical  summit,  far  above  the  clouds.  It  stands  in  the  in- 
tendancy  of  Vera  Cruz,  and  rises,  according  to  Humboldt's  measurement,  to 
the  enormous  height  of  17,  368  feet  above  the  ocean.  (Essai  Politique,  torn. 
I.  p.  265.)  It  is  the  highest  peak  but  one  in  the  whole  range  of  the  Mexican 
Cordilleras. 


MARCH  TO  CEMPOALLA. 


S35 


did  not  succeed  in  killing  them.  They  saw  also,  pheasants  and 
other  birds  j  among  them  the  wild  turkey,  the  pride  of  the  Amer- 
ican forest,  which  the  Spaniards  described  as  a  species  of  pea- 
cock.^^ 

On  their  route  they  passed  through  some  deserted  villages,  in 
which  were  Indian  temples,  where  tiiey  found  censers,  and  other 
sacred  utensils,  and  manuscripts  of  the  agave  fibre,  containing 
the  picture-writing,  in  which,  probably,  their  religious  ceremo- 
nies were  recorded.  They  now  beheld,  also,  trie  hideous  spec- 
tacle, with  which  they  became  afterwards  familiar,  of  the  muti- 
lated corpses  of  victims  who  had  been  sacrificed  to  the  accursed 
deities  of  the  land.  The  Spaniards  turned  with  loathing  and  in- 
dignation from  a  display  ot  butc]->ery,  which  formed  so  dismal  a 
contrast  to  the  fair  scenes  of  nature  by  which  they  were  sur- 
rounded. 

They  held  their  course  along  the  banks  of  the  river,  towards 
its  source,  when  they  were  met  by  twelve  Inaians,  sent  by  the 
cacique  of  CernpoalJa  to  show  them  the  way  to  his  residence. 
At  night  they  bivouacked  in  an  open  meadow,  where  Jiey  were 
wei;  supplied  with  provisions  by  their  new  friends.  They  lef^. 
the  strsam  on  the  following  morning,  and,  striking  northerly 
ac^osi:  ':h?  country,  came  upon  a  wide  expanse  or  luxuriant  plains 
j.n::  wocdiand,  glowing  in  all  the  splendor  of  tropical  vegetation, 
'i  ii-;  oranches  of  th^  stately  trees  were  gayly  festooned  with  cius- 
tenn;2:  vines  of  the  dark-purpie  grape,  variegated  convolvuii,  and 
other  flowering  parasites  of  tiie  most  brilliant  dves.  The  under- 
grosvth  of  prickly  aloe,  matted  with  wild  rose  and  honeysuckle, 
inade  in  many  places  an  almost  impervious  nlj.vet.  Amid  this 
v.ilderness  of  sweet-smelling  buds  and  blossoms,  fluttered  numer- 
OU3  birds  of  :he  parrot  tribe,  and  clouds  of  butterflies,  wiiose  ga-.idy 
colors,  novviiere  so  gorgeous  as  in  the  tierra  caUatie,  rAaiied 
tiinse  of  the  vegetable  creation  ;  while  birds  of  exquisite  son;^. 
tl!-  sca--;''^  cardinal,  and  th?  marvellous  mocking-bird,  that  coni' 
r'X'liend.s  in  his  ov/n  notes  the  whole  music  of  a  forest,  fllici  th.e 
air  with  delicious  melodv. — The  hearts  of  the  st':"-n  C^nnnerors 
were  not  very  sensioie  to  the  beauties  of  nature.  I'.'.'t  ii:'-  ma,i;ical 
thavins  of  the  scenery  drew  foiihi  r.iibounded  expres.iior.s  of  de- 
];:;iit,  and  as  th^j\-  wandered  !i:rough  ilus  "  ter--' •.;i'-il  j'nrcdiso." 
as  dviy  crdled  it,  thcv  londiy  compared  it  to  the  f-:'!e\'  /egioua  of 
'.h:  r  ov/a  s'ir:!iv  Imd.^' 

'  farti  fie  Vera  ("luz.  MS. — iieru.,;  ]jiaz.  Husi.  (ic  '  ■  Conquista,  cap.  44, 
■  <  ii;ni:ira.  Cronicu,  r;i;..  -52,  ap.  Harcia,  lorn.  II. —     ,rrera,  Hi.st  frcnera-, 

dec.  2,  Hi-    5,  car),  X,— 0\-iffi-..  lit.  (ic  ins  Inil.,  MS,,  lib.  33.  cap.  r, 

"Mui   l'--Tm');;as  ve-^as  \  ri'-'-ras  njes  y  l-in  hermosns  fUif-    en  tocia   K-naf;' 

00  pued'.  ,    h'  r    ;  :■  t,r.,i  ,>:;     '    ''e  apae'l.i'.-s  .a  l;i    \'ista    CJlnc  dc     fru(;t.'.*f  :,i,""    ' 


3^1^  DISCO  VER  Y  QF  MEXICO. 

As  they  approached  the  Indian  city,  they  saw  abundant  signs 
of  cultivation,  in  the  trim  gardens  and  orchards  that  Uned  both 
Bides  of  the  road.  They  were  now  met  by  parties  of  the  natives 
of  either  sex,  who  increased  in  numbers  with  every  step  of  their 
progress.  The  women,  as  well  as  men,  mingled  fearlessly 
among  the  soldiers,  bearing  bunches  and  wreaths  of  flowers,  with 
which  they  decorated  the  neck  of  the  general's  charger,  and  hung 
a  chaplet  of  roses  about  his  helmet.  Flowers  were  the  delight 
of  this  people.  They  bestowed  much  care  in  their  cultivation, 
in  which  they  were  well  seconded  by  a  climate  of  alternate  heat 
and  moisture,  stimulating  the  soil  to  the  spontaneous  production 
of  every  form  of  vegetable  life.  The  same  refined  taste,  as  we 
shall  see,  prevailed  among  the  warlike  Aztecs,  and  has  survived 
the  degradation  of  the  nation  in  their  descendants  of  the  present 
day.« 

Many  of  the  women  appeared,  from  their  richer  dress  and 
numerous  attendants,  to  be  persons  of  rank.  They  were  clad 
in  robes  of  fine  cotton,  curiously  colored,  which  reached  from 
the  neck — in  the  inferior  orders,  from  the  waist — to  the  ankles. 
The  men  wore  a  sort  of  mantle  of  the  same  material,  d  la  Moris- 
<a,  in  the  Moorish  fashion,  over  their  shoulders,  and  belts  or 
sashes  about  the  loins.  Both  sexes  had  jewels  and  ornaments 
of  gold  round  their  necks,  while  their  ears  and  nostrils  were  per- 
forated with  rings  of  the  same  metal. 

(Carta  de  Vera  Cruz,  MS.)  The  following  poetical  apostrophe,  by  Lord 
Morpeth,  to  the  scenery  of  Cuba,  equally  applicable  to  that  of  the  tierra  cali- 
ente,  will  give  the  reader  a  more  animated  picture  of  the  glories  of  these 
sunny  climes,  than  my  own  prose  can.  The  verses,  which  have  never  been 
published,  breathe  the  generous  sentiment  characteristic  of  their  noble  author. 

**  Ye  tropic  forests  of  uiifaded  green, 

Where  the  palm  tapers  and  the  orange  glows, 

Where  the  light  bamboo  weaves  her  feathery  screen, 

And  her  far  shade  the  matchless  ceiba  throws  ! 

"  Ye  cloudless  ethers  of  unchanging  blue, 

Save  where  the  rosy  streaks  of  eve  give  way 
To  the  clear  sapphire  of  your  midnight  hue, 
The  burnished  aiure  of  your  perfect  day  1 

"  Yet  tell  me  not   my  native  skies  are  bleak, 

That  flushed  with  liquid  wealth  no  cane  fields  wavat 
For  Virtue  pines  and  Manhood  dares  not  speak, 
And  Nature's  glories  brighten  round  the  Slave." 

"  The  same  love  of  flowers,"  observes  one  of  the  most  delightful  <A 
modern  travellers,  "  distinguishes  the  natives  now,  as  in  the  times  of  Cortfe. 
And  it  presents  a  strange  anomalv,"  she  adds,  with  her  usual  acutenes^;; 
'■■  tliis  love  of  flowers  having  existed  along  with  their  sanguinary  worship  and 
barbarous  sacrifices."  Madame  Calderon  de  la  "area.  Life  in  Meicico,  voL 
L  let.  12. 


MARCH  TO  CEMPOALLA. 


m 


Just  before  reaching  the  town,  some  horsemen  who  had  rode 
m  advance  returned  with  the  amazing  intelligence,  "  that  ihey 
had  been  near  enough  to  look  within  the  gates,  and  found  the 
houses  all  plated  with  burnished  silver!"  On  entering  the 
place,  the  silver  was  found  to  be  nothing  more  than  a  brilliant 
coating  of  stucco,  with  which  the  principal  buildings  were  cover- 
ed ;  a  circumstance  which  produced  much  merriment  among  the 
soldiers  at  the  expense  of  their  credulous  comrades.  Such  ready 
credulity  is  a  proof  of  the  exalted  state  of  their  imaginations, 
"ft'hich  were  prepared  to  see  gold  and  silver  in  every  object 
around  them.-^"^  The  edifices  of  the  better  kind  were  of  stone 
and  lime,  or  bricks  dried  in  the  sun  ;  the  poorer  were  of  clay 
and  earth,  Aii  were  thatched  with  palm-leaves,  which,  though  a 
fiinisy  roof,  apparently,  for  such  structures,  were  so  nicely  inter- 
woven as  to  form  a  very  effectual  protection  against  the  weather 

The  city  was  said  to  contain  from  twenty  to  thirty  thousand 
inhabitants.  This  is  the  most  moderate  com.putation,  and  not 
iniprobable."  Slowly  and  silently  the  little  army  paced  the  nar- 
row and  now  crowded  streets  of  Cempoalla,  inspiring  the  natives 
with  no  greater  wonder  than  they  themselves  experienced  at  the 
display  of  a  policy  and  refinement  so  far  superior  to  anything 
they  had  witnessed  in  the  New  World. ^^  The  cacique  came  out 
in  front  of  his  residence  to  receive  them.  He  was  a  tall  and 
very  corDu!  jnt  mian,  mid  ad^•anced  leaning  on  two  of  his  attend- 
ants. He  received  Cottes  and  his  followers  with  great  courtesy ; 
and  atter  a  brief  interchange  of  civilities,  assij:;nect  the  army  its 
quarters  in  a  nc  ighbnring  temple,  into  tne  spacious  court--\-ard  of 
which  a  number  of  anartments  opened,  affording  excellent  ac- 
commodations for  ih.e  soldierv. 

Here  the  Spaniards  were  veil  supplied  with  prc'visions,  meat 
cooked  ai':er  the  fashion  ot  tiie  country,  and  maize  made  into 
bread-cakes.  The  genera!  received,  also,  a  present  of  considcr- 
a::)]e  value  from  the  cncique.  consisting  of  ornaments  of  g::'ici  ana, 
fine  cot'^'ns,  No'^vit'istandipg  these  friendly  demonstrations, 
< 'ortes  (iid  not   relax  bis  haioMial   vi::ilancc.    nor  ncLdect  ne.;,-   of 

''■  "  Con  !a  iinaginar''.n  'jue  i'cvn''' >,i'!.  i  lir^nos  des('-.^.  !-u'o  :''■  lis  ;ov.  \\\-,z 
' 'at:i    i    (jro   lo    mmc    rciiu.ia.'       (.'itii...    ,  < 'i  oviica,   cai).  32    a]).    lUi'.c--.  tom, 

■'  'i"nj.,  i -].;■.  C;i  a-;"  f  ^i'iiPto.  ;  I 'i -t.  r-;  l.l'^  Lul..  M  S..  "i  1).  3,  Cap.  I  21  .■* 
'i  tji'-j  .e'.ii;i<;;t  li<.s:raic  iic'wccii  'vvir-  i'n''s,  ;in(!  nc  iui:;c!ieJ  and  fifty 
tlvii-aivl,  t;-.(;h  ot  wiiii.ii  !,(;  na..' :,,  at.  Uiitc-;  ;ia  lltKC;  !  (Clavigcro,  Slor, 
(]ci  Mc.-s!,;-..  t'lrn.  TfT.  p.  26,  im' i, ,  'l"l:e  ];!  ut:  was  gradually  at)ando!ied, 
after  ti:e  'Onv  .■-',  for  ntlirr,.,  h  ri  rnfi-c  t;'.\or,;hlr  jio.sition.  probabiy,  t'a 
trad'--.  It;,  t-i;,-  s  \i-crf;  \\  ^^  An  alt!-:  f',>-r-M!  iiic  Lcentur..  See  ija^iv 
,Tana,  \\\A..  d.:  Xn';-/,    ;>-]':ir.a,  ti.  ■',•■,  iioLa. 

'''  "  t'orjiie  vivea  riia.s  polnici  v  rasMnabltiiiente  c|uc  niiigni;  .  '  •  .  -  gcntc* 
que  hasta  oy  cu  c^t^-  j.utc-.  .s'.-  h;.  m.-.io.''     Carta  dc  Vera  Cru-s,  .MS. 


jjS  DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO. 

the  precautions  of  a  good  soldier.  On  his  route,  indeed,  he  had 
always  marched  in  order  of  battle,  well  prepared  against  sur- 
prise. In  his  present  quarters,  he  stationed  his  sentinels  with 
like  care,  posted  his  small  artillery  so  as  to  command  the  en^ 
trance,  and  forbade  any  soldier  to  leave  the  camp  without 
orders,  under  pain  of  death.^^ 

The  following  morning,  Cori^s,  accompanied  by  fifty  of  hi:> 
men,  paid  a  visit  to  the  lord  of  Cempoalla  in  his  own  residence. 
It  was  a  building  of  stone  and  lime,  standing  on  a  steep  terrace 
of  earth,  and  was  reached  by  a  flight  of  stone  steps.  It  may 
have  borne  resemblance  in  its  structure  to  some  of  the  ancient 
buildings  found  in  Central  iVmerica.  Cortes,  leaving  his  soldiers 
in  the  court-yard,  entered  the  mansion  with  one  of  his  officers,  and 
his  fair  interpreter,  Dona  Marina.^-'  A  long  conference  ensued, 
from  which  the  Spanish  genera!  gathered  much  light  respecting 
the  state  of  the  country.  He  first  announced  to  the  chief,  that 
he  was  the  subject  of  a  great  monarch  who  dwelt  beyond  the 
waters  ;  that  he  had  come  to  the  Aztec  shores,  to  abolish  the  in- 
human worship  which  prevailed  there,  and  to  introduce  the 
knowledge  of  the  true  God.  The  cacique  replied,  that  their 
gods,  who  sent  them  the  sunshine  and  the  rain,  were  good 
enough  for  them  ;  that  he  was  the  tributary  of  a  powerful  mon- 
arch also,  whose  capital  stood  on  a  lake  far  off  among  the  moun- 
tains ;  a  stern  prince,  merciless  in  his  exactions,  and,  in  case  of 
resistance,  or  any  offence,  sure  to  wreak  his  vengeance  by  carry- 
ing off  their  young  men  and  maidens  to  be  sacrificed  to  his  dei- 
ties. Cortes  assured  him  that  he  would  never  consent  to  such 
enormities  ;  he  had  been  sent  by  his  sovereign  to  redress  abuses 
and  to  punish  the  oppressor  ;  ^  and,  if  the  Totonacs  would  be 
true  to  him,  he  would  enable  them  to  throw  off  the  detested  yoke 
of  the  Aztecs. 

The  cacique  added,  that  the  Totonac  territory  contained  about 
thirty  towns  and  villages,  which  could  muster  a  hundred  thou- 
sand warriors, — a  number  much  exaggerated.^  There  were  other 

'"  L»s  Casas,  Hist.de  las  Indias,  MS.,  lib.  3.  cap.  121. — Carta  de  Vera 
Cruz,  MS. — Gomara,  Cronica,  cap.  33.  aix  Barcia,  torn.  If. — Oviedo,  Hist. 
de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib  33,  cap.  I. 

*•  The  courteous  title  of  dona  is  usually  given  by  the  Spanish  chroniclers 
to  this  accomplished  Indian. 

21  "  No  venia,  sino  a  deshacer  agravos,  i  favorecer  los  presos  aiudar  a  los 
raezquinos,  i  quitar  tiranias."  (Gomara,  Cronica,  cap.  33,  ap.  Barcia,  torn.  (I.) 
Are  we  reading  the  adventures — it  is  the  language — of  Don  Quixote,  or 
Amadis  de  Gaula? 

^  Ibid.,  cap.  36. 

Cortes,  in  his  Second  Letter  to  the  emperor  Charles  V.,  estimates  the 
number  of  fighting  men  at  50,000.  Reiacion  .Segunda,  ap-  Lorenzana, 
p.  40. 


PROCEEDIXGS  WITH  THE  NATIVES. 


239 


provinces  of  the  empire,  he  said,  where  the  Aztec  rule  was 
equally  odious;  and  between  him  and  the  capital  lay  the  warlike 
republic  of  Tlascala,  wliich  had  always  maintained  its  indepen- 
dence of  Mexico.  The  fame  of  the  Spaniards  had  gone  before 
them,  and  he  was  well  acquainted  with  their  terrible  victory  at 
Tabasco.  But  still  he  looked  with  doubt  and  alarm  to  a  rupture 
with  "  the  great  Montezuma,"  as  he  always  styled  him  ;  whose 
armies,  on  the  least  provocation,  would  pour  down  from  the 
mountain  regions  of  the  West,  and,  rushing  over  the  plains  like 
a  whirlwind,  sweep  off  the  wretched  people  to  slavery  aiid  sacri- 
fice ! 

Corte's  endeavored  to  reassure  him,  by  declaring  that  a  sing!-; 
Spaniard  was  stronger  than  a  host  of  Aztecs.  At  the  .^aine  time, 
it  was  desirable,  to  know  what  nations  would  cooperate  with 
him,  not  so  much  on  his  account,  as  theirs,  that  he  might  dis- 
tinguish friend  from  foe,  and  know  whom  he  was  to  spare  in 
this  war  of  extermination.  Having  raised  the  confidence  of  the 
admiring  chief  by  this  comfortable  and  politic  vaunt,  he  took  an 
affectionate  leave,  with  the  assurance  that  he  would  shortly  re- 
turn and  concert  measures  for  their  future  operations,  when  he 
had  visited  his  ships  in  the  adjoining  port,  and  secured  a  per- 
manent settlement  there.'® 

The  intelligence  gained  by  Cortes  gave  great  satisfaction  to 
his  mind.  It  confirmed  his  former  views,  and  showed,  indeed, 
the  interior  of  the  monarchy  to  be  in  a  state  far  more  distracted 
than  he  had  supposed.  If  he  had  before  scarcely  shrunk  from 
attacking  the  Aztec  empire  in  the  true  spirit  of  a  knight-errant, 
with  his  single  arm,  as  it  were,  what  had  he  now  to  fear,  when 
one  half  of  the  nation  could  be  thus  marshalled  against  the  other  ? 
In  the  excitement  of  the  moment,  his  sanguine  spirit  kindled 
with  an  enthusiasm  which  overleaped  every  obstacle.  He  com- 
municated his  own  feelings  to  the  officers  about  him,  and,  before 
a  blow  was  struck,  they  already  felt  as  if  the  banners  of  Spain 
were  waving  in  triumph  from  the  towers  of  Montezuma  !  But 
many  a  bloody  field  was  to  be  fought,  many  a  peril  and  priva- 
tion to  be  encountered,  before  that  consummation  could  be 
attained. 

Taking  leave  of  tlie  hospitable  Indian,  on  the  following  day,  the 
Spaniards  took  the  road  to  Chiahuitztla,^  about  four  leagues 
distant,  near   which  was  the  port    discovered  by  Montejo,  where 

^  Las  (Jasas,  Hist,  dc  las  Indias,  MS.,  lib.  j,  cap.  \i\. — Ixtlilxochitil, 
Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  caj).  81. — Oviedo,  Hist,  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  33,  cap.  i. 

**  The  historian,  with  the  aid  of  Clavigero,  himself  a  Mexican,  may  rectify 
freriuent  blunders  of  former  writers,  in  the  orthography  of  Aztec  names. 
Botn  Robertson  and  .Soli's  spell  the  name  of  this  place  Quiabislatt.  Rliiii(ier(! 
in  such  a  barbarous  nomenclature  must  be  admitted  to  be  very  pardonable. 


a40  DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO. 

their  ships  were  now  riding  at  anchor.  They  were  provided  by 
the  cacique  with  four  hundred  Indian  porters,  iamafies,  as  they 
were  called,  to  transport  the  baggage.  These  men  easily  car- 
ried fifty  pounds'  weight,  five  or  six  leagues  in  a  day.  They 
were  in  use  all  over  the  Mexican  empire,  and  the  Spaniards 
found  them  of  great  service,  henceforth,  in  relieving  tiie  troops 
from  this  part  of  their  duty.  They  passed  through  a  country  of 
the  same  ricli,  voluptuous  character  as  that  which  they  had  lately 
traversed;  and  arrived  early  next  morning  at  the  Indian  town, 
perched  like  a  fortress  on  a  bold,  rocky  eminence  that  com- 
manded the  Gulf.  Most  of  the  inhabitants  had  fled,  but  fifteen 
'  f  the  principal  men  remained,  who  received  them  in  a  friendly 
manner,  olTering  the  usual  compliments  of  flowers  and  incense. 
The  people  of  the  place,  losing  their  fears,  gradually  returned. 
While  conversing  with  Jie  chiefs,  the  Spaniards  were  joined  by 
the  worthy  cacique  of  Cempoalla,  borne  by  his  men  on  a  litter. 
He  eagerly  took  part  in  their  deliberations.  The  intelligence 
gained  here  by  Cortes  confirmed  the  accounts  already  gathered 
of  the  feelings  and  resources  of  the  Totonac  nation. 

In  the  midst  of  their  conference,  they  were  interrupted  by  a 
movement  among  the  people,  and  soon  afterv/ards  five  men 
entered  the  great  square  or  market-place,  where  they  were  stand- 
ing. By  their  lofty  port,  their  peculiar  and  much  richer  dress, 
they  seemed  not  to  be  of  the  same  race  as  these  Indians.  Their 
dark,  glossy  hair  was  tied  in  a  knot  on  the  top  of  the  head. 
Tiiey  bad  bunches  of  flowers  in  their  hands,  and  were  followed 
by  sevc-r;il  attendants,  some  bearing  wands  wiih  cords,  others 
fans,  with  which  they  brushed  away  the  flies  and  insects  from  their 
lordly  masters.  As  these  persons  passed  through  the  place, 
thoy  cast  a  haughty  look  on  the  Spaniards,  scarcely  deigning  to 
return  their  salutations.  They  were  immediately,  joined,  in  great 
confusion,  by  the  Totonac  chiefs,  who  seemed  anxious  to  con- 
ciliate them  by  every  kind  of  attention. 

The  general,  much  astonished,  inquired  of  Marina,  what  it 
meant.  She  in/ormed  him,  they  were  Aztec  no]:>les.  empowered 
to  receive  the  tribute  for  Montezuma.  Soon  after,  the  chiefs  re- 
turned with  dismay  painted  o\i  their  faces.  The}  confirmed 
Marina's  statement,  addiiig,  that  the  Aztecs  greatly  resented 
the  CD'ertainment  afforded  ihc  Sfjaniards  without  the  Piimperor's 
permission  :  nrid  demanded  iii  expiation  twentv  voung  men  and 
wt;n:en  for  sacrifice  to  tlie  gods,  (.^jrtes  showed  the  strong- 
est indignation  at  this  insolence.  lie  required  the  Totonacs 
not  only  to  refuse  tise  demand,  but  to  arrest  the  persons  cf  the 
collectors,  and  throw  them  into  prisor,.  The  chiefs  hesitated, 
but  he  insisted  on  it  so  peremptorily,  that  they  at  length  coal' 


PROCEEDINGS   WITH  THE  NATIVES. 


24i 


plied,  and  the  Aztecs  were  seized,  bound  hand  and  foot,  and 
placed  under  a  guard. 

In  the  night,  the  Spanish  general  procured  the  escape  of  two 
of  them,  and  had  them  brought  secretly  before  him.  He  express- 
ed his  regret  at  the  indignity  they  had  experienced  from  the 
I'otonacs ;  told  them,  he  would  provide  means  for  their  flight, 
and  to-morrow  would  endeavor  to  obtain  the  release  of  their 
companions.  He  desired  them  to  report  this  to  their  master, 
with  assurances  of  the  great  regard  the  Spaniards  entertained 
for  him,  notwithstanding  his  ungenerous  behavior  in  leaving 
them  to  perish  from  want  on  his  barren  shores.  He  then  sent 
the  Mexican  nobles  down  to  the  port,  whence  they  were  carried 
to  another  part  of  the  coast  by  water,  for  fear  of  the  violence  of 
the  Totonacs.  These  were  greatly  incensed  at  the  escape  of  the 
prisoners,  and  would  have  sacrificed  the  remainder,  at  once, 
but  for  the  Spanish  commander,  who  evinced  the  utmost  horror 
at  the  proposal,  and  ordered  them  to  be  sent  for  safe  custody 
on  board  the  fleet.  Soon  after,  they  were  permitted  to  join  their 
companions. —  This  artful  proceeding,  so  characteristic  of  the 
policy  of  Cortes,  had,  as  we  shall  see,  hereafter,  all  the  effect  in- 
tended on  Montezuma.  It  cannot  be  commended,  certainly,  as 
in  the  true  spirit  of  chivalry.  Yet  it  has  not  wanted  its  pan- 
egyrist among  the  national  historians  I'* 

By  order  of  Cortes,  messengers  were  despatched  to  the  To- 
tonac  towns,  to  report  what  had  been  done,  calling  on  them  to 
refuse  the  payment  of  further  tribute  to  Montezuma.  But  there 
was  no  need  of  messengers.  The  affrighted  attendants  of  the 
Aztec  lords  had  fled  in  every  direction,  bearing  the  tidings, 
which  spread  like  wildfire  through  the  country,  of  the  daring  in- 
sult offered  to  the  majesty  of  Mexico.  The  astonished  Indians, 
cheered  with  the  sweet  hope  of  regaining  their  ancient  liberty, 
came  in  numbers  to  Chiahuitztla,  to  see  and  confer  with  the 
formidable  strangers.  The  more  timid,  dismayed  at  the  thoughts 
of  encountering  the  power  of  Montezuma,  recommended  an  em- 
bassy to  avert  his  displeasure  by  timely  concessions.  But  the 
dexterous  management  of  Corte's  had  committed  them  too  far  to 
allow  any  reasonable  expectation  of  indulgence  from  this  quarter. 
After  some  hesitation,  therefore,  it  was  determined  to  embrace 
the  protection  of  the  Spaniards,  and  to  make  one  bold  effort  for 
the  recovery  of  freedom.  Oaths  of  allegiance  were  taken  by  the 
chiefs  to  the  Spanish  sovereigns,  and  duly  recorded  by  Godoy, 
the    royal  notary.     Cortes,  satisfied  with    the   important  acquis:- 

^  ■'  Grande  artffice,"  exclaims  Soli's,  "  de  medir  loque  disponiacon  lo  ju; 
rtcelaba;  y  prudente  capitan  el  que  sabe  caminar  en  alcance  de  las  ccn- 
•logencia*  "  !  Conquista,  lib.  a,  cap.  9. 


342 


DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO. 


tion  of  so  many  vassels  to  the  crown  set  out  soon  after  for  the 

destined  port,  having  first  promised  to  revisit  Cempoalla,  where 
his  business  was  but  partially  accomplished.^ 

The  spot  selected  for  the  new  city  was  only  half  a  league  diS' 
tant,  in  a  wide  and  fruitful  plain,  affording  a  tolerable  haven  for 
the  shipping.  Cortes  was  not  long  in  determining  the  circuit  of 
the  walls,  and  the  sites  of  the  fort,  granary,  town-house,  temple, 
and  other  public  buildings.  The  friendly  Indians  eagerly  assist- 
ed, by  bringing  materials,  stone,  lime,  wood,  and  bricks  dried  in 
the  sim.  Every  man  put  his  hand  to  the  work.  The  general 
labored  with  the  meanest  of  the  soldiers,  stimulating  their  exer- 
tions  by  his  example,  as  well  as  voice.  In  a  few  weeks,  the 
task  was  accomplished,  and  a  town  rose  up,  which,  if  not  quite 
worthy  of  the  aspiring  name  it  bore,  answered  most  of  the  pur- 
poses for  which  it  was  intended.  It  served  as  a  good  point  d'ap- 
pui  for  future  operatioi>s  ;  a  place  of  retreat  for  the  disabled,  as 
well  as  for  the  army  in  case  of  reverses  :  a  magazine  for  stores, 
and  for  such  articles  as  might  be  received  from  or  sent  to  the 
mother  country ;  a  port  for  the  shippirg  ;  a  position  of  r.ufficient 
strength  to  overawe  the  adjacent  country," 

It  was  the  first  colony — the  fruitful  parent  of  so  many  others 
— in  New  Spain.  It  was  hailed  with  satisfaction  by  the  simple 
natives,  who  hoped  to  repose  in  safety  under  its  protecting  shad- 
ow. Alas  !  they  could  not  read  the  future,  or  they  would  have 
found  no  cause  to  rejoice  in  this  harbinger  of  a  revolution  more 
tremendous  than  any  predicted  by  their  bards  and  prophets.  It 
was  not  the  good  Quetzalcoatl,  who  had  returned  to  claim  his 
own  again,  bringing  peace^  freedom,  and  civilization  in  his  train. 
Their  fetters,  indeed,  would  be  broken  ;  and  their  wrongs  be 
amply  avenged  on  the  proud  head  of  the  Aztec.     But  it  was  to 

25Ixtli]xochitl,  ni;;t.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  8i. — Rei.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap. 
Lorenzana,  p.  40. — Goniara,  Croiiica,  cap.  34-36,  ap.  Barcia,  torn.  II.- — 
Benial  Diaz,  Conquista,  cap.  46,  47. — Hcirera,  Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib. 
5,  cap.  10,  II. 

2' Carta  de  Vera  Cruz,  MS. — Bernal  Diaz,  Conquista,  cap.  48. — Oviedo, 
Hist,  de  las  Ind..  MS.,  lib.  33,  cap.   I. — Declaracion  de  Moiuejo,  MS. 

Notwilh.standing  ti^.e  advantages  of  its  situatitju.  La  Vii'a  Rica  was  abaa- 
doned  in  a  few  years  for  a  neighbiiring  posit'on  to  the  so'.ith,  not  far  from  the 
month  of  tlie  .-\ntign.a.  This  second  seftlcuient  was  knov.-n  by  the  name  of 
FeT-.z  Cruz  Vicja,  "  Old  Vera  Cruz."  Earlv  in  the  17th  century  this  place, 
also,  was  abandoned  for  the  present  city,  Niteva  Vera  Cruz,  or  New  Vera 
Cr;u,  as  it  is  called.  |.See  Ante,  chap.  5,  note  7.)  Of  tlic  true  cause  -jf  these 
si'.cr.-^sive  niigralions  we  are  ignorant.  If,  .is  is  preten.'ed,  it  was  :>n  account 
cf  the  voniifo,  the  inhabitants,  one  would  suppose,  can  have  gained  little  by 
the  exchai:ge.  {See  Ilumboidt,  Essai  l'oiiti(jue,  torn.  II.  p.  210.)  A'.vanx: 
of  attcntio''  tc  these  changes  has  led  to  much  confusion  and  inaccuracy' in  the 
ancient  inai;s.  Lorenzana  has  not  escaped  them  in  his  chart  and  top«.>graph5C*l 
account  of  the  route  of  Cortes. 


PKocfi.ED/XGS  wrrn  the  xatives. 


3+3 


be  by  that  strong  arm,  which  should  bow  down  equally  the  op- 
pressor and  the  oppressed.  The  light  of  civilization  would  b'j 
pcHired  on  their  land.  But  it  would  be  the  light  of  a  consumiiv^ 
fire,  before  which  theii  barbaric  glory,  their  institutions,  tli^^.: 
very  existence  and  name  as  a  nation,  would  wither  and  become: 
extinct  !  Their  doom  was  sealed,  when  the  white  man  had  s? : 
his  foot  on  their  soil 


»44  DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO, 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Another  Aztec  Embassy. — Destruction  of  the  Idols.-— De 

SPATCHES   SENT   TO    SpaIN.—CoNSPIRACY    IN    THE  CaMP.— THI 


Fleet  sunk. 


1519. 


While  liic  Spaniards  were  occupied  with  their  new  settfement, 
they  were  surprised  by  the  presence  of  an  embassy  from  Mexi- 
CO.  The  account  of  the  imprisonment  of  the  royal  collectors 
had  spread  rapidly  through  the  country.  When  it  reaclied  the 
capital,  a!]  were  filled  with  amazement  at  the  unprecedented 
daring  of  the  strangers.  In  Montezuma  every  other  feeling, 
even  that  of  tear,  was  swallowed  up  in  indignation  ;  and  he 
showed  his  wonted  energy  in  the  vigorous  preparations  svhich  he 
instantly  made,  to  punish  his  rebellious  vassals,  and  to  avenge 
the  insult  offered  to  the  majesty  of  the  empire.  But  when  the 
Aztec  officers  liberated  by  Cortes  reached  the  capital,  and  re- 
ported the  courteous  treatment  they  had  received  from  lbs  Span- 
ish commander,  Montezuma's  anger  was  mitigated,  and  his  su- 
perstitious fears,  getting  the  ascendency  again,  induced  him  to 
resume  bis  former  timid  and  conciliatory  poHcv.  He  according- 
ly sent  an  embassy,  consisting  of  two  youths,  his  nephews,  and 
four  of  the  ancient  nobles  of  his  court,  ta  the  Spanish  quarters 
He  provided  iheui,  in  hia  usuai  muniliceiic  spitiij  rt'lth  a  princely 
donation  of  gold,  rich  cotton  stuffs,  and  beatitiful  mar.ties  of  the 
phimaje,  or  feather  ernb'-oidery.  The  envoys,  on  cctning  before 
Cortc's,  presented  hirn  with  the  articles,  at  the  same  t:;ne  offer" 
ing  the  acknowiedgrnents  of  the:r  master  foi:  ihe  courtesy  he  had 
shown  in  liberating  hi,-;  captive  nobles.  He  was  surprised  and 
afiiicted,  however,  that  the  Spaniards  shouid  have  countenanced 
his  xaithiess  vassais  in  their  rebellion.  He  had  no  doubt  they 
v/ere  the  strangers  whose  arrival  had  been  s:^  iong  announced  by 
the  oraclcS;  and  of  the  same  lineage  with  himself.^  PYom  defer- 
er.ce  to  thtra  he  would  spare  the  Totonacs,  while  they  were  pre*- 
er.t.     But  the  time  for  vengeance  would  come, 

1  "  Tenienno  rc5i:>eto  &.  que  tiene  por  cierto,  que  soinos  ios  que  sus  ani»' 
passnHos  Ics  rininn  <lic:ho,  que  atiian  de  veitir  <-i  sns  tierras,  (?  que  Qcuemosife 
■cr  de  sus  linajcs."     13ernal  DJu/,  ilist.  dc  ia  Conqiast;;,  cip.  48, 


ANOTHER  AZTEC  DISCOVERY. 


^^% 


Cortes  entertained  the  Indian  chieftains  with  frank  hospitality. 
At  the  same  time,  he  took  care  to  make  such  a  display  of  his 
resources,  as,  while  it  amused  theirminds,  should  leave  a  deep 
impression  of  his  power.  He  then  after  a  few  trifling  gifts,  dis- 
missed them  with  a  conciliatory  message  to  their  master,  and 
the  assurance  that  he  should  soon  pay  his  respects  to  him  in 
bis  capital,  where  all  misunderstanding  between  them  would  be 
readily  adjusted. 

The  Totonac  allies  could  scarcely  credit  their  senses,  when 
they  gathered  the  nature  of  this  interview.  Notwithstanding 
t':!e  presence  of  the  Spaniards,  they  had  looked  with  apprehen- 
sion to  the  consequences  of  their  rash  act ;  and  their  feelings  of 
admiration  where  heightened  into  awe,  for  the  strangers  who, 
at  this  distance,  could  exercise  so  mysterious  an  influence  over 
the  terrible  Montezuma.* 

Not  long  after,  the.  Spaniards  received  an  application  from 
the  cacique  of  Cempoalla  to  aid  him  in  a  dispute  in  which  he 
was  cngnged  with  a  neighboring  city.  Cortds  marched  with  a 
party  of  his  forces  to  his  support.  On  the  route,  one  Morla,  a 
common  soldier^  robbed  a  native  of  a  couple  of  fowls.  Cortes, 
indignant  at  this  violntion  of  his  orders  before  his  face,  and 
aware  of  the  importance  of  maintaining  a  reputation  for  good 
faith  witli  his  allies,  commanded  the  man  to  be  hung  up,  at 
once,  by  the  roadside,  in  face  of  the  whole  army.  Fortunately 
for  the  ])oor  wretch,  Pedro  de  Alvarado,  the  future  conqueror 
of  Quiche',  was  present,  and  ventured  to  cut  down  the  body, 
while  there  was  yet  life  in  it.  He,  probably,  thought  enough  had 
been  done  for  exampie,  and  the  loss  of  a  single  life,  unneces* 
sariiy,  was  more  than  the  little  band  could  afford.  The  anecdote 
is  characteristic,  as  showing  the  strict  discipline  maintained  by 
Cortds  o\cr  his  men,  and  the  freedom  assumed  by  his  captains, 
who  regarded  him  on  terms  nearly  of  equality.  —  as  a  fellow- 
adventurer  with  themselves.  This  feeling  of  companionship  led 
to  a  spirit  of  insubordination  among  them,  which  made  his  own 
post  as  commander  the  more  delicate  and  difficult. 

On  reaching  the  hostile  city,  but  a  few  leagues  from  ihe  coast, 
they  were  received  in  an  amical/ie  manner  ;  and  Cortes,  who 
was'  accy^muanied  Ijv  his  alHes,  ha'l  ^:he  p.'lisfacrion  of  reconcil- 
ing these  different  branches  .A  tlie  Totonac  family  with  each 
other,  ^■itli'.ut  l:)!or>rlshed.  He  ilit  n  returned  to  Cernpoalla, 
when;  !t'  was  welrr  rn'vl  with  joy  bv  the  people,  who  were  now 
impr(;s5C(l  with  as  favorable  an  0[)irnon  of  h.s  moderation  and 
justice,  as  thev  had  before  been  of  his  valoi.     In   toi<en   of  hi& 

'Goinara,  CrCnica,  cap.  37. — Ixtlilxochitl,  Hir^t.  Cbich.,  MS,  cap,  82. 

Mr..ir,>  n  -w^x.  1 


946  DISCOVERY  OF  MEXrCO. 

fratitude,  the  Indian  cacique  delivered  to  the  general  eight 
ndian  maidens,  richly  dressed,  wearing  coUais  and  ornaments 
of  gold,  with  a  number  of  female  slaves  to  wait  on  them.  They 
were  daughters  of  the  principal  chiefs,  and  the  cacique  requested 
that  the  Spanish  captains  might  take  them  as  their  wives.  Cortds 
received  the  damsels  courteously,  but  told  the  cacique  ihey  must 
first  be  baptized,  as  the  sons  of  the  Church  could  have  no  com- 
merce with  idolaters.^  He  then  dec'dred  that  it  was  a  great  object 
of  his  mission  to  wean  the  natives  from  their  heathenish  abom- 
inations, and  besought  the  Totonac  lord  to  allow  his  idols  to  be 
cast  down,  and  symbols  of  the  true  faith  to  be  erected  in  their 
place. 

To  this  the  other  answered  as  before,  that  his  gods  were  good 
enough  for  him  ;  nor  could  all  the  persuasions  of  the  general, 
nor  the  preaching  of  father  Olmedo,  induce  him  to  acquiesce. 
Mingled  with  his  polytheism,  he  had  conceptions  of  a  Supreme 
and  Infinite  Being,  Creator  of  the  Universe,  and  his  darkened 
understanding  could  not  comprehend  how  such  a  Being  could 
condescend  to  take  the  form  of  humanity,  with  its  infirmities 
and  ills,  and  wander  about  on  earth,  the  voluntary  victim  of 
persecution  from  the  hands  of  those  whom  his  breath  had  called 
into  existence.*  He  plainly  told  the  Spaniards  that  he  v;ould 
resist  any  violence  offered  to  his  gods,  who  would  indeed  avenge 
the  act  themselves,  by  the  instant  destruction  of  their  ene- 
mies. 

But  the  zeal  of  the  Christians  had  mounted  too  high  to  be 
cooled  by  remonstrance  or  menace.  During  their  residence  ia 
the  land,  they  had  witnessed  more  than  once  the  barbarous 
rites  of  the  natives,  their  cruel  sacrifices  of  human  victims,  and 
their  disgusting  cannibal  repasts.^     Their  souls  sickened  at  these 

8  "  De  buena  gana  recibirian  las  Doncellascomofuesen  Christianos;  porque 
de  otra  manera,  no  era  permitido  a  hombres,  hijos  de  la  Iglesia  de  Dios, 
tener  comercio  con  idolatras,"  Herrera  Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  c, 
cap.  13. 

*  Ibid.,  dec.  2,  lib.  5,  cap.  13. — Las  Casas,  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS.,  lib. 
3,  cap.  122. 

Herrera  has  put  a  very  edifying  harangue,  on  this  occasion,  into  the  mouth 
of  Cortes,  which  savors  much  more  of  the  priest  than  the  soldier.  Does  he 
not  confound  him  with  father  Olemedo  ? 

'"  "  Esto  habemos  visto."  sa3's  the  Letter  of  Vera  Cruz,  "  algunos  de 
nosotros,  y  los  que  lo  han  visto  dizen  que  es  la  mas  terrible  y  la  mas  es- 
pantosa  cosa  de  ver  que  jamas  han  visto."  Still  more  stronglv  speaks  Bernal 
Diaz.  (Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  51.)  The  Letter  computes  that  thers 
were  fifty  or  ri.xty  persons  thus  butchered  in  each  of  the  teocailis  every  year, 
giving  an  annual  consumption,  in  the  countries  which  the  Spaniards  had  thea 
visited,  of  three  or  four  thousand  victims!  (Carta  de  Vera  Cru£,  MS.^ 
However  loose  this  arithmetic  may  be,  the  general  fact  is  appallingr 


DESTRUCT/OX  OF  THE  IDOLS.  247 

abominarions,  and  ;h<:y  agreed  with  one  voice  to  stand  by  their 
general,  wiien  he  .old  them,  that  "Heaven  would  never  smile 
on  their  enterprise,  if  they  countenanced  such  atrocities,  and  that, 
for  his  own  part,  he  was  resolved  the  Indian  idols  should  be 
demolished  that  very  hour,  if  it  cost  him  his  lite."  To  postpone 
the  work  of  conversion  was  a  sin.  In  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
moment,  the  dictates  of  policy  and  ordmary  prudence  were  alike 
unheeded. 

Scarcely  waiting  for  his  commands,  the  Spaniards  moved 
towards  one  of  the  principal  teocalHs.  or  temples,  which  rose 
higa  on  a  pyramidal  foundation,  with  a  steep  ascent  of  stone 
steps  in  the  middle.  The  cacique,  divining  their  purpose,  in- 
stantly called  his  men  to  arms.  The  Indian  warriors  gathered 
from  all  quarters,  with  shrill  cries  and  clashing  of  weapons  ; 
while  the  priests,  in  their  dark  cotton  robes,  wnth  dishevelled 
tresses  matted  with  blood,  flowing  wildly  over  their  shoulders, 
rushed  frantic  amoitg  the  natives,  calling  on  them  to  protect 
their  gods  from  violation  !  All  was  now  confusion,  tumult,  and 
warlike  menace,  where  so  lately  had  been  peace  and  the  sweet 
brotherhood  of  nations. 

Cones  took  his  usual  prompt  and  decided  measures.  He 
caused  th.e  cacique  and  some  of  the  priiicipal  inhabitants  and 
priests  to  be  arrested  by  his  soldiers.  He  then  comma.ided 
them  to  quiet  the  people,  for,  if  an  arrow  was  shot  against  a 
S|)aniard,  it  should  cost  every  one  of  them  his  life.  Marina,  at 
tti'.--  same  time,  represented  the  madness  of  resistance,  and  re- 
minded the  cacique,  that,  if  he  now  alienated  the  affections  of 
the  Spaniards,  he  would  be  left  without  a  protector  against  the 
terri'oie  vengeance  of  Montezuma.  These  temporal  considera- 
tions seem  to  have  had  more  weight  v/ith  the  Totonac  chieftain, 
than  those  of  a  more  spiritual  nature.  He  covered  his  face 
with  his  hands,  exclaiming,  that  the  gods  would  avenge  their 
own  wrongs. 

The  Christians  were  not  slow  in  availing  thcmsc'ves  ^'^  his 
tacit  acquiescence.  Fifty  soldiers,  at  a  signal  from  their  gen- 
eral, sprang  up  the  great  stairway  of  the  temple,  entered  the 
building  on  the  summit,  the  walls  of  which  were  black  with 
human  gore,  tore  the  huge  wooden  idois  from  their  foundations, 
and  rl ragged  them  to  the  edge  of  the  terrace.  Their  fantastic 
forms  anrl  features,  conveving  a  symbolic  meaning,  which  was 
lost  on  the  Spaniards,  seemed  in  their  eyes  only  the  hideous 
lini;.Trne!its  of  Satan.  With  great  alacrity  they  rolled  the 
colossal  monsters  down  the  steps  of  the  pyramid,  amidst  the 
triumphant  shouts  of  their  own  companions,  and  the  groans 
and  lamentations  of  the  natives.     They  then  consummated  the 


143  DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO. 

whole  by  burning  them  in  the  presence  of  the  assembled  mul- 
titude. 

The  same  effect  followed  as  in  Cozumel.  The  Totonacs, 
finding  their  deities  incapable  of  preventing  or  even  punisiiing 
this  profanation  of  their  shrines,  conceived  a  mean  opinion  of 
their  power,  compared  with  that  of  the  mysterious  and  formid- 
able strangers.  The  floor  and  walls  of  the  teocalli  were  then 
cleansed,  by  command  of  Cone's,  from  their  foul  impurities  ;  a 
fresh  coating  of  stucco  was  laid  on  them  by  the  Indian  masons; 
and  an  altar  was  raised,  surmounted  by  a  lofty  cross,  and  hung 
with  garlands  of  roses.  A  procession  was  next  formed,  in 
which  some  of  the  principal  Totonac  priests,  exchanging  their 
dark  mantles  for  robes  of  white,  carried  lighted  candles  in  their 
hands  ;  while  an  image  of  the  Virgin,  half  smothered  under  the 
weight  of  flowers,  was  borne  aloft,  and,  as  the  procession 
climbed  the  steps  of  the  temple,  was  deposited  above  the  altar. 
Mass  was  performed  by  father  Olmedo,  and  the  impressive 
character  of  the  ceremony  and  the  passionate  eloquence  of  the 
good  priest  touched  the  feelings  of  the  motley  audience,  until 
Indians  as  well  as  Spaniards,  if  we  may  trust  the  chronicler, 
were  melted  into  tears  and  audible  sobs.  The  Protestant  mis- 
sionary seelcs  to  enlighten  the  understanding  of  his  convert  by 
the  pale  light  of  reason.  But  the  bolder  Catholic,  kindling  the 
spirit  by  the  splendor  of  the  spectacle  and  by  the  glowing  por- 
trait of  an  agonized  Redeemer,  sweeps  along  his  hearers  in  a 
tempest  of  passion,  that  drowns  everything  like  reflection.  He 
has  secured  his  convert,  however,  by  the  hold  on  his  affections, 
— an  easier  and  more  powerful  hold  with  the  untutored  savage, 
than  reason. 

An  old  soldier  named  Juan  de  Torres,  disabled  by  bodily 
infirmity,  consented  to  remain  and  watch  over  the  sanctuary, 
and  instruct  the  natives  in  its  services.  Corte's  then,  embracing 
his  Totonac  allies,  now  brothers  in  religion  as  in  arms,  set  out 
once  more  for  the  Villa  Rica,  where  he  had  some  arrangements 
to  complete,  previous  to  his  departure  for  the  capital.'* 

He  was  surprised  to  find  that  a  Spanish  vessel  had  arrived 
'here  in  his  absence,  having  on  board  twelve  soldiers  and  two 
horses.  It  was  under  the  command  of  a  captain  named  Sau- 
cedo,  a  cavalier  of  the  ocean,  who  had  followed  in  the  track  of 
Cortes  in  quest  of  adventure.  Though  a  small,  they  afforded  a 
very  seasonable  body  of  recruits  for  the  little  army.  By  these 
men,  the  Spaniards  were  informed  that  Velasquez,  the  governor 

''Las  Casas,  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS.,  lib.  T,  cap.  122. — Bernal  Diaz,  Hist 
de  la  Conquista,  cap.  51,  52. — Gomara,  Cronica,  cap.  43. — Herrera,  Hist 
Gtaeral,  dec.  2,  lib.  5,  cap.  13,  14. — Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist,  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  83 


DESTRUCTIOX  OF  THE  IDOLS. 


249 


of  Cuba,  had  Ir-^n.)  j.^ceived  a  warrant  from  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment to  estab'isli  a  colony  in  the  newly  discovered  countries. 

Cor;ds  now  resolved  to  put  a  plan  in  execution  which  he  had 
been  some  time  meditating.  He  knew  that  all  the  late  acts  of 
the  colony,  as  well  as  his  own  authority,  would  fall  to  the  ground 
without  the  royal  sanction.  He  knew,  tuo,  that  the  interest  of 
Velasquez,  which  was  great  at  court,  would,  so  soon  as  he  was 
acquainted  with  his  secession,  be  wholly  employed  to  circum- 
vent and  crush  him.  He  resolved  to  anticipate  his  movements, 
and  to  send  a  vessel  to  Spain,  with  despatches  addressed  to  the 
emperor  himself,  announcing  the  nature  and  extent  of  his  dis- 
coveries, and  to  obiain,  if  possible,  tlie  confirmation  of  his  pro- 
ceedings. In  order  to  conciliate  his  master's  good-will,  he 
further  proposed  to  send  him  such  a  present,  as  should  suggest 
lofty  ideas  of  the  importance  of  his  own  services  to  the  crown. 
To  effect  this,  the  royal  fifth  he  considered  ir.adequate.  He 
conferred  with  his  officers  and  persuaded  them  to  relinquish 
their  share  of  the  treasure.  At  his  instance,  they  made  a 
similar  application  to  the  soldiers  ;  representing  that  it  was  the 
earnest  wish  of  the  general,  who  set  the  example  by  resigning 
his  own  fifth,  equal  to  the  share  of  the  crown.  It  was  but  little 
that  each  man  was  asked  to  surrender,  but  the  v/hole  would 
make  a  present  worthv  of  the  monarch  for  whom  it  was  in- 
tended. Bv  this  sacrifice,  they  might  hope  to  secure  his  indul- 
gence for  the  past,  and  his  favor  for  the  future  ;  a  temporary 
sacriiice,  that  would  be  well  repaid  by  the  security  of  the  ricn 
possessions  which  av/aited  them  in  ^Mexico.  A  paper  was  then 
circulated  among  the  soldiers,  which,  all  who  were  disposed  to 
reli!U}ui;li  their  shares,  were  requested  to  sign.  Those  who 
decimcd  should  have  their  claims  respected,  and  receive  the 
anvjunt  di;  .■  t)  them.  No  one  refused  to  sign;  thus  furnishing 
anotiier  j;;ain|de  of  the  extraordinary  power  obcanied  by  Cortes 
over  tiiesv;  rapacious  spirits,  who,  at  his  call,  surrendered  up  the 
very  treasures  v.hich  had  been  the  great  object  of  their  hazar- 
dous enterprise  ! ' 

•  Bc-rnal  Diaz.  Hist,  de  "la  Comiuisia.  caj;.  53. — Ixtliiocliiu,  Hist.  Chich. 
M.S..  (:;ip.  82  — Carta  dt:  VeraCiiuz,  MS. 

A  co-npl'.ne  i'lVM'.iorv  of  tlic  a''tic1es  r-'cfivcd  from  Montezuma  is 
contained  in  tlu.  Carta  de  Vera  (.'>  kz. — 'I'hc  following  arc  a  lew  of  (,he 
item-,, 

Tw)  r(,:lar.^  made  of  ^o\'\  and  precin'is  sionts. 

A  I'.undrfd  ounces  of  gold  ore,  t!.a!  their  lliulinesses  might  see  m  what 
Btate  llic  <j(>]<\  i:arne  from  th';  mines. 

I'wo  bircls  made  of  preen  feather.s,  with  feet,  beak.s,  and  tvcs  ()f  gold,— 
*nd,  in  the  same  [liere  with  them,  animals  of  gold,  resembling  stiailg. 

A  large  alli^^'ator's  head  of  gold. 


85° 


DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO. 


He  accompanied  this  present  with  a  letter  to  the  emperor,  in 

which  he  gave  a  full  account  of  all  that  had  befallen  him  since 
his  departure  from  Cuba  ;  of  his  various  discoveries,  battles,  and 
traffic  with  the  natives  ;  their  conversion  to  Christianity  ;  his 
strange  perils  and  sufferings  ;  many  particulars  respecting  the 
lands  he  had  visited,  and  such  as  he  could  collect  in  regard  to 
the  great  Mexican  monarchy  and  its  sovereign.  He  stated  liis 
difficulties  with  the  governor  of  Cuba,  the  proceedings  of  the 
army  in  reference  to  colonization,  and  besought  the  emperor  to 
confirm  their  acts,  as  well  as  his  own  authority,  expressing  his 
entire  confidence,  that  he  should  be  able,  with  the  aid  of  his 
brave  followers,  to  place  the  Castilian  crown  in  possession  of 
this  great  Indian  empire/ 

This  was  the  celebrated  First  Letter,  as  it  is  called,  of  Cortes 
which  has  hitherto  eluded  every  search  that  has  been  made  for  it 
in  the  libraries  of  Europe.^     Its  existence  is  fully  established  by 

A  bird  of  green  feathers,  with  feet,  beak,  and  eyes  of  gold. 

Two  birds  made  of  thread  and  feather-work  having  the  quills  of  their 
wings  and  tails,  their  feet,  eyes,  and  the  ends  of  their  beaks,  of  gold, — 
standing  upon  two  reeds  covered  with  gold,  which  are  raised  on  balls  of 
feather-work  and  gold  embroidery,  one  white  and  the  other  yellow,  with 
seven  tassels  of  feather-work  hanging  from  each  of  them, 

A  large  wheel  of  silver  weighing  forty  marks,  and  several  smaller  ones 
of  the  same  metal, 

A  box  of  feather-work  embroidered  on  leather,  with  a  large  plate  of  gold, 
weighing  seventy  ounces,  in  the  midst. 

Two  pieces  of  cloth  woven  with  feathers;  another  with  variegated  colors; 
and  another  worked  with  black  and  white  figures. 

A  large  wheel  of  gold,  with  figures  of  strange  animals  on  it,  and  worked 
with  tufts  of  leaves;  weighing  three  thousand,  eight  hundred  ounces. 

A  fan  of  variegated  feather-work,  with  thirty-seven  rods  plated  with 
gold. 

Five  fans  of  variegated  feathers. — four  of  which  have  ten,  and  the  other 
thirteen,  rods  embossed  with  gold. 

Sixteen  shields  of  precious  stones,  with  feathers  of  various  colors  hang- 
ing from  their  rims. 

Two  pieces  of  cotton  very  richlv  wrought  with  biack  and  white  em- 
broidery. 

Six  shields,  each  covered  with  a  plate  of  gold,  with  something  resem- 
bling a  golden  mitre  in  the  centre. 

*  "  Una  minr  larga  Carta,"  says  (iomara,  in  his  loose  analysis  of  it.  Cronica 
cap,  40. 

*  Dr.  Robertson  states  that  the  Imperial  Literary  at  Vienna  was  examined 
for  this  document,  at  his  instance,  but  without  succes.-^.  (History  of  America, 
vol.  II.  note  70.)  I  have  not  been  more  fortunate  in  the  researches  made 
for  me  in  the  British  Museum,  the  Royal  Library  of  Paris,  and  that  of  the 
Academy  of  History  at  Madrid.  The  last  is  a  great  depository  for  the 
colonial  historical  documents  ;  but  a  very  thorough  inspection  of  its  papers 
makes  it  certain  that  this  is  wanting  to  the  collection.  As  the  emperor 
received  it  on  the  eve  of  his  embarkation  for  Germany,  and  the  Letter  of 
Vera  Cruz,  forwarded  at  the  same  time,  is  in  the  library  of  Vienna,  this  would 
seem,  after  all,  to  be  the  most  probable  place  of  its  retreat. 


DESPATCHES  SENT  TO  SPAIN.  251 

references  to  it,  both  in  his  own  subsequent  letters,  and  in  the  writ- 
ings of  contemporaries.^  Its  general  purport  is  given  by  his 
chaplain,  Gomara.  The  importance  of  the  document  has  doubt- 
less been  much  overrated  ;  and,  should  it  ever  come  to  light,  it 
will  probably  be  found  to  add  little  of  interest  to  the  matter  con- 
tained in  the  letter  from  Vera  Cruz,  which  has  formed  the  basis 
of  the  preceding  portion  of  our  narrative.  He  had  no  sources 
of  information  beyond  those  open  to  the  authors  of  the  latter 
document.  He  was  even  less  full  and  frank  in  his  communica- 
tions, if  it  be  true,  that  he  suppressed  all  notice  of  the  discov- 
eries of  his  two  immediate  predecessors." 

The  magistrates  of  the  Villa  Rica,  in  their  epistle,  went  over 
the  same  ground  with  Cortes  concluding  with  an  emphatic  rep- 
resentation of  the  misconduct  of  Valasquez,  whose  venality, 
extortion,  and  selfish  devotion  to  his  personal  interests,  to  the 
exclusion  of  those  of  his  sovereigns  as  well  as  of  his  own  follow- 
ers, they  placed  in  a  most  clear  and  unenviable  light. ^^  They 
implored  the  government  not  to  sanction  his  interference  with  the 
new  colony,  which  would  be  fatal  to  its  welfare,  but  to  commit 
the  undertaking  to  Hernando  Cortds,  as  the  man  most  capable, 
by  his  experience  and  conduct,  of  bringing  it  to  a  glorious  termina- 
tion.i» 

^'^  "  Er.  una  nao,"says  Cortes,  in  the  very  first  sentence  of  his  Second  Lettei 
to  the  emperor,  "'que  de  esta  Nueva  Espaiia  de  Vuestra  Sacra  Magestad 
despache  a  16  de  Julio  de  el  ano  1519  enibie  a  Vuestra  AUeza  may  larga  y 
particular  Kclacion  de  las  cosas  hasta  aquella  sazon  despues  que  yo  a  ella 
vineenella  sucedidas."  (Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes, ap.  Lorenzana,  p.  38.)  "  Corte's 
escriuio,"  says  Bernal  Diaz,  "  segun  el  nos  dixo,  conrecta  relacion,  mas  no 
vimos  su  carta."'  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  53.  (Also,  Oviedo,  Hist, 
de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  -},'>^^  cap.  i,  and  Gomara,  ut  supra.)  Were  it  not  for 
these  positive  testimonies,  one  might  suppose  tliat  the  Carta  de  Vera  Cruz 
had  suggested  an  imaginary  letter  of  Cortes.  Indeed,  the  copy  of  the  former 
document,  belonging  to  the  vSpanish  Academy  of  History, — and  perhaps  the 
original  at  Vienna, — bears  the  erroneous  title  of  Primera  Relacion  de 
Cortes." 

^1  This  is  the  imputation  of  Iknial  Diaz,  reported  on  hearsay,  as  he  admits 
be  riever  saw  the  letter  himself.      Ibid.,  cap.  54. 

''■^  "  Fingiendo  mill  cautelas,"  says  I. as  Casas,  politely,  of  liii^  part  of  thi 
letter,  "  y  atirmando  otras  nuichas  falsedades  e  mentiras  "  !  llist.  de  las 
Inclias,  M.S.,  lib.  3,  cap.  122. 

'''  This  d(X.iuncnt  is  of  the  greatest  value  and  interest,  cominp;  as  it  does 
from  the  best  instructed  persons  in  the  camp.  It  presents  an  elaborate 
record  of  ail  then  known  of  the  countries  they  had  visited,  and  of  the  princi- 
pal movements  of  the  army,  to  the  time  of  the  foundation  of  the  Villa  Rica. 
Til'.-  writers  conciliate  our  confidence  bv  tlie  circumspect  tone  ot  their  narra- 
tion. "  Querer  dar,"  they  say,  "a  Vuestra  Magestad  todas  las  particulari- 
dades  de  esta  tierra  y  gente  de  ella,  i)odria  ser  que  On  algo  se  erra.se  la 
relacion,  porque  muchas  de  ellas  no  se  han  visto  masde  por  informacione* 
de  los  naturales  de  ella,  y  pf)r  esto  ikj  nos  entrcineieiuos  a  dar  mas  de  aquellj 
Que  por  iiuiy  cierto  y  verdadero  Vras.  Reales  Altezas  podrdii  uiandar  tenet  '' 


S^S  DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO, 

With  this  letter  went  also  another  in  the  name  of  the  citizen* 

soldiers  of  Villa  Rica,  tendering  their  dutiful  submission  to  the 
sovereigns,  and  requesting  the  conlirmation  of  their  proceedings, 
above  all,  that  of  Cortds  as  their  general. 

The  selection  of  the  agents  for  the  mission  was  a  delicate  mat- 
ter, as  on  the  resiut  might  depend  the  future  fortunes  of  the 
colony  and  its  commander.  Cortes  intrusted  the  ai'tair  to  two 
cavaliers  on  whom  he  could  rely  ;  Francisco  de  Montejo,  the 
ancient  partisan  of  Velasquez,  and  Alonso  Hernandez  de  Puerto- 
carrero.  The  latter  officer  was  a  near  kinsman  of  the  count  of 
Medellin,  and  it  was  hoped  his  high  connections  might  secure  a 
favorable  influence  at  court. 

Together  with  the  treasure,  which  seemed  to  verify  the  asser- 
tion that  "  the  land  teemed  with  gold  as  abundantly  as  that 
whence  Solomon  drew  the  same  precious  metal  for  his  temple,"'^* 
several  Indian  manuscripts  were  sent.  Some  were  of  cotton, 
others  of  the  Mexican  aqave.  Their  unintelligible  characters, 
says  a  chronicler,  excited  little  interest  in  the  Conquerors.  As 
evidence  of  intellectual  culture,  however,  they  formed  higher 
objects  of  interest  to  a  philosophic  mind,  than  those  costly 
fabrics  which  attested  only  the  mechanical  ingenuity  of  the  na- 
tion.^'' Four  Indian  slaves  were  added  as  specimens  of  the  na- 
tives.  They  had  been  rescued  from  the  cages  in  which  they 
were  confined  for  sacrifice.  One  of  the  best  vessels  of  the  fleet 
was  selected  for  the  voyage,  manned  by  fifteen  seamen,  and 
placed  under  the  direction  of  the  pilot  Alaminos.  He  was  di- 
rected to  hold  his  course  through  the  Bahama  channel,  north  of 
Cuba,  or  Fernandina,  as  it  was  then  called,  and  on  no  account 
to  toucii  at  that  island,  or  any  other  in  the  Indian  ocean.  With 
these  instructions,  the  good  ship  took  its  departure  on  the  26th 
of  July,  freighted  v.'ith  the  treasures  and  the  good  wishes  of  the 
community  of  the  A''illa  Rica  de  Vera  Cruz. 

After  a  quick  run  the  emissaries  made  the  island  of  Cuba,  and, 
in   direct  disregard  of  order?,  anchored  before  Marieti,  on  the 

The  account  given  of  Velasquez,  however,  must  "be  considered  as  an  ex  parte 
testimony,  and,  as  such  admitted  with  great  reserve.  It  was  essentia!  to 
their  own  vindication,  to  vindicate  Cortes.  The  letter  has  never  ijeen  printed 
The  original  exists,  as  above  slated,  in  the  lm[)erial  Library  at  Vienna.  The 
copy  in  my  possession,  covering  more  than  sixty  pages  folio,  is  taken  from 
that  of  the  Academy  of  History  at  Madrid. 

^-  '■  A  nuestra  parecer  se  debe  creer,  que  ai  en  esta  tierra  tanto  quanto  en 
aquelia  de  donde  se  dize  aver  llevado  Salomon  el  oro  para  el  templo." 
Carta  de  Vera  Cruz,  MS. 

'^  Peter  Martyr,  preeminent  above  his  contemporaiies  for  the  enlightened; 
views  he  took  of  the  new  discoveries,  devotes  half  a  chapter  to  the  Indiao 
manuscripts,  in  which  he  recognized  the  evidence  of  a  civilization,  anaiogom 
to  the  I'Igyj)tian.      De  (Jilje  Novo,  dec,  4,  cap.  S 


DESPA  TCHES  SENT  TO  SPAIN, 


»53 


northern  side  of  the  island.  This  was  done  to  accommodate  Mon- 
tejo,  who  wish  to  visit  a  plantation  owned  by  him  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. While  oflf  the  port,  a  sailor  got  on  shore,  and,  crossing 
the  island  to  St.  J  ago,  the  capital,  spread  ever)where  tidings  of 
the  expedition,  until  they  reached  the  ears  of  Velasquez.  It 
was  the  tirst  intelligence  which  had  been  received  of  the  arma- 
ment since  its  departure  ;  and,  as  the  governor  listened  to  the 
recital,  it  would  not  be  easy  to  paint  the  mingled  emotions  of 
curiosity,  astonishment,  and  wrath  which  agitated  his  bosom.  In 
the  first  sally  of  passion,  he  poured  a  storm  of  invective  on  the 
heads  of  his  secretary  and  treasurer,  the  friends  of  Cortes,  who 
had  recommended  him  as  the  leader  of  the  expedition.  After 
somewhat  relieving  himself  in  this  way,  he  despatched  two  fast- 
sailing  vessels  to  Alarien  with  orders  to  seize  the  rebel  ship, 
and  in  case  of  her  departure,  to  follow  and  overtake  her. 

But  before  the  ships  could  reach  that  port,  the  bird  had  flown, 
«nd  was  far  on  her  way  across  the  broad  Atlantic.  Stung  with 
mortification  at  this  fresh  disappointment,  Velasquez  wrote  let- 
ters of  indignant  complaint  to  the  government  at  home,  and  to 
the  fathers  of  St.  Jerome,  in  Hispaniola,  demanding  redress. 
He  obtained  little  satisfaction  from  the  last.  He  resolved,  how- 
ever, to  take  it  into  his  own  hands,  and  set  about  making  formid- 
able preparations  for  another  squadron,  which  should  be  more 
than  a  match  for  that  under  his  rebellious  officer.  He  was  in- 
defatigable in  his  exertions,  visiting  every  part  of  the  island,  and 
straining  all  his  resources  to  effect  his  purpose.  The  prepara- 
tions were  on  a  scale  that  necessarily  consumed  many  months. 

Meanwhile  the  little  vessel  was  speeding  her  prosperous  way 
across  the  waters  ;  and,  after  touching  at  one  of  the  Azores,  came 
safely  into  the  harbor  of  St.  Lucar,  in  the  month  of  October. 
However  long  it  may  appear,  in  the  more  perfect  nautical  sci- 
ence of  our  day,  it  was  reckoned  a  fair  voyage  for  that.  Of  what 
befell  the  commissioners  on  their  arrival,  their  reception  at  court, 
and  the  sensation  caused  by  their  intelligence,  I  defer  the  ac- 
count to  a  future  chapter. ''"' 

Shortly  after  the  de]5arture  of  the  commissioners,  an  affair  oc- 
curred of  a  most  unpleasant  nature.  A  lunnber  of  persons,  with 
the  priest  Juan  Diaz  at  their  head,  ill-affected,  from  some  cause 
or    other,  towards  the   administration  of  Corlds,  or  no'  relishing 

'■'  Hern.il  Dia?:,  I  list,  de  la  '  oiiijuisi.i,  c.ip.  54-57. —r;.,)mara,  CnJnica,  cap. 
40.  —  Ilcrrera,  Kist.  (Icnfi-.ii,  tlcu.  2.  !;').  5,  cai).  14.  —  (.'arta  de  Vera 
Cru.>,  MS. 

Martyr's  opioin  iiiforniation  wa.s  tiiictiv  derived  frmn  his  cdnversatiain 
with  Alaminos  and  tii-  twD  eiivovs,  on  liicir  arrival  at  court.  De  <  )rl)e 
Novo,  dec.  4,  cap.  6,  ci  aiibi;  also  Idem,  (Ji)us  J'4Ji.-.tolaruin,  ( Ainsleludami, 
1670,)  ep.  (jso. 


«54 


DISCOVERY  OF  MEXICO. 


the  hazardous  expedition  before  them,  laid  a  plan  to  seize  one  ol 
the  vessels,  make  the  best  of  their  way  to  Cuba,  and  report  to 
the  governor  the  fate  of  the  armament.  It  was  conducted  with 
so  much  secrecy,  that  the  party  had  got  their  provisions,  water, 
and  everything  necessary  for  the  voyage,  on  board,  without  de- 
tection :  when  the  conspiracy  was  betrayed,  on  the  very  night 
they  were  to  sail,  by  one  of  their  own  number,  who  repented 
the  part  he  had  taken  in  it.  The  general  caused  the  persons 
implicated  to  be  instantly  apprehended.  An  examination  was 
instituted.  The  guilt  of  the  parties  was  placed  beyond  a  doubt. 
Sentence  of  death  was  passed  on  two  of  the  ringleaders  ;  an- 
other, the  pilot,  was  condemned  to  lose  his  feet,  and  several 
others  to  be  whipped.  The  priest,  probably  the  most  guilty  of 
the  whole,  claiming  the  usual  benefit  of  clergy,  was  permitted  to 
escape.  One  of  those  condemned  to  the  gallows  was  named 
Escudero,  the  very  alguacil  who,  the  reader  may  remember,  so 
stealthily  apprehended  Cortds  before  the  sanctuary  in  Cuba." 
The  general,  on  signing  the  death-warrants,  was  heard  to  exclaim, 
"  Would  that  I  had  never  learned  to  write  !  "  It  was  not  the 
Srst  time,  it  was  remarked,  that  the  exclamation  had  been  uttered 
\n  similar  circumstances.-^ 

The  arrangements  being  now  finally  settled  at  the  Villa  Rica, 
Cortds,  sent  forward  Alvarado,  with  a  large  part  of  the  army,  to 
Cempoalla,  where  he  soon  after  joined  them  with  the  remainder. 
The  late  affair  of  the  conspiracy  seems  to  have  made  a  deep 
impression  on  his  mind.  It  showed  him,  that  there  were  timid 
spirits  in  the  camp  on  whom  he  could  no^  "cly,  and  who,  he  feared, 
might  spread  the  seeds  of  disaflection  among  their  companions. 
Even  the  more  resolute,  on  any  occasion  of  disgust  or  disappoint- 
ment hereafter,  might  falter  in  purpose,  and,  getting  possession 
of  the  vessels,  abandon  the  enterprise.  This  was  already  too 
vast,  and  the  odds  were  too  formidable,  to  authorize  expectation  of 
success  with  diminution  of  numbers.  Experience  showed  that 
this  v.-as  always  to  be  apprehended,  while  means  of  escape  were 
at    hand. '9     The  best  chance  for  success    was  to  cut  oli  these 

-'  See  Ante,  p.  176. 

1^  Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  laConquista,  cap.  57. — Oviedo,  Hist  de  las  Ind., 
M.S.,  lib.  33,  cap.  2, — Las  Casas,  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  MS.,  lib,  3,  cap.  12a, 
■— -Demanda  de  Narvaez,  MS. — Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana,  p.  41. 

It  was  the  exclamation  of  Nero,  as  reported  by  Suetonius.  "  Etcum  dc 
sopplicio  cujusdani  capite  damnati  ut  ex  more  subscriberet,  admoneretur, 
'  Quam  vellem.'  inquit,  '  nescire  literas ! '"     Lib.  6.  cap.  10. 

^  *'  Y  porque,"  says  Cortes,  "  demas  de  los  que  por  ser  criados  y  amigOS 
de  Diego  Velasquez  tenian  voluntad  de  salir  de  la  Tierra,  habia  otros,  qoe 
por  verla  tan  grande,  y  de  tanta  gente,  y  tal,  y  ver  los  pocos  Espanoles  que 
eramos,  estaban    del  mismo  proposito;  creyendo,    que  si  alli  los  navi'os  dc 


THE  FLEE  T  SUXK.  255 

means. — He  came  to  the  daring  resoluiion  to  destroy  the  fleet, 
wiihoLit  the  knowledge  of  his  army. 

When  arrived  at  Cempoalla,  he  communicated  his  design  to  a 
few  of  his  devoted  adherents,  who  entered  warmly  into  his  views. 
Through  them  he  readily  persuaded  the  pilots,  by  means  of  those 
golden  arguments  which  weigh  more  than  any  other  with  ordi- 
nary minds,  to  make  such  a  report  of  the  condition  of  the  fle«t 
as  suited  his  purpose.  The  ships,  they  said,  were  grierously 
racked  by  the  heavy  gales  they  had  encountered,  and,  what  was 
worse,  the  worms  had  eaten  into  their  sides  and  bottoms  until 
most  of  them  were  not  sea-worthy,  and  some,  indeed,  could 
scarcely  now  be  kept  afloat. 

Cortds  received  the  communication  with  surprise ;  "  for  he 
could  well  dissemble,"  observes  Las  Casas,  with  his  usual  friend- 
ly comment,  "  when  it  suited  his  interests."  "  If  it  be  so,"  he 
exclaimed,  "  we  must  make  the  best  of  it !  Heaven's  will  be 
done  !  "  -'  He  then  ordered  five  of  the  worst  conditioned 
to  be  dismantled,  their  cordage,  sails,  iron,  and  whatever  was 
movable,  to  be  brought  on  shore,  and  the  ships  to  be  sunk.  A 
survey  was  made  of  the  others,  and,  on  a  similar  report,  four 
more  were  condemned  in  the  same  manner.  Only,  one  small 
vessel  remained ! 

When  the  intelligence  reached  the  troops  in  Cempoalla,  it 
caused  the  deepest  consternation.  They  saw  themselves  cut  off 
by  a  single  blow  from  friends,  family,  country  1  The  stoutest 
hearts  quailed  before  the  prospect  of  being  thus  abandoned  on 
a  hostile  shore,  a  handful  of  men  arrayed  against  a  formidable 
empire.  When  the  news  arrived  of  the  destruction  of  the  five 
vessels  first  condemned,  they  had  acquiesced  in  it  as  a  necessary 
measure,  knowing  the  mischievous  activity  of  the  insects  in 
these  tropical  seas.  But,  when  this  was  followed  by  the  loss  of 
the  remaining  four,  suspicions  of  the  truth  flashed  on  their 
minds.  They  felt  they  were  betrayed.  Murmurs,  at  first  deep. 
Swelled  louder  and  and  louder,  menacing  open  mutiny.  "Their 
general,"  they  said,  "  had  led  them  like  cattle  to  be  butchered 
In  the  shambles !  "  «     The  affair  wore  a  most  alarming  aspect. 

)asse,  se  me  alzarian  con  ellos,  y  yendose  todos  los  cjue  de  esta  voluntad 
estavan,  yo  <juedara  casi  solo." 

®  "  Mostr6  fjuando  se  lo  dixeron  miicho  sentimiento  Cortfe,  porque  savUl 
bJcn  hacerfingimientos  auando  le  era  provechoso,  y  rresijondioles  que  mira« 
sen  vien  en  ello,  e  fjue  si  no  estavan  jiara  navegar  que  diesen  gracias  a  Dio« 

Eor  ello,  p<ies  no  se  podia  hacer  mas."     Las  Casas.  Hist,  de  las  Indias.  MS., 
b.  3,  cap.  122. 

"  "  Decian,  que  los  queria  meter  en  el  niatadero."  Gomara,  Cronici, 
cap- 4a. 


J j6  DISCO  J 'EK  V  OF  MEXICO. 

In  no  situation  was  Cortes  ever  exposed  to  greater  danger  from 
his  soldiers.^ 

His  presence  of  mind  did  not  desert  him  at  this  crisis.  He 
called  his  men  together,  and.  employing  the  tones  of  persuasion 
rather  than  authority,  assured  them,  that  a  survey  of  the  ships 
showed  they  were  not  tit  for  service.  If  he  had  oraered  them  to 
be  destroyed,  the}'  should  consider,  also,  that  his  was  the  great- 
est .sacrifice,  for  they  were  his  property, — all,  indeed,  he  pos- 
sessed in  the  world.  The  troops,  on  the  other  hand,  would 
derive  one  great  advantage  from  it,  by  the  addition  of  a  hundred 
?.ble-bodied  recruits,  before  required  to  man  the  vessels.  But, 
even  if  the  fleet  had  been  saved,  it  could  have  been  of  little 
service  in  their  present  expedition;  since  they  would  not  need  it 
if  they  succeeded,  while  they  vi-ould  be  too  far  in  the  interior  to 
p"'-ft  by  it  if  they  failed.  He  besought  them  to  turn  their 
thoughts  in  another  direction.  To  be  thus  calculating  chances 
and  means  of  escape  was  unworthy  of  brave  souls.  They  had 
eet  their  hands  to  the  work  ;  to  look  back,  as  they  advanced, 
would  be  their  ruin.  They  had  only  to  resume  their  former 
confidence  in  themselves  and  their  gent  and  success  was 
certain.  "  As  for  me,"  he  concluded,  "  I  i  ave  chosen  my  part, 
I  will  remain  here,  while  there  is  one  to  bear  me  company.  If 
there  be  any  so  craven,  as  to  shrink  from  sharing  the  dangers 
c^  our  glorious  enterprise,  let  them  go  home,  in  God's  name. 
There  is  still  one  vessel  left.  Let  them  take  that  and  return  to 
Cuba.  They  can  tell  there,  how  they  have  deserted  their  cona« 
mander  and  their  comrades,  and  patiently  wait  till  we  return 
loaded  with  the  spoils  of  the  Aztecs."  ^ 

The  politic  orator  had  touched  the  right  chord  in  the  bosoms 
of  the  soldiers.  As  he  spoke,  their  resentment  gradun'.iy  died 
away.  The  faded  visions  of  future  riches  and  glory,  rekindled 
by  his  eloquence,  again  floated  before  their  imaginations.  The 
first  shfK;k  over,  they  felt  asiiamed  of  their  temporary  distrust. 
The  enthusiasm  for  the'r  leader  revived,  for  thev  felt  that  under 
h's  banner  only  they  could  hope  for  victory  ;  and  as  he  concluded, 

^  "  A)  cavo  )o  ovieron  de  sentir  la  gente  y  ayna  se  le  amotinaran  muchos, 
V  esta  fue  uno  de  los  peligros  que  pasaron  por  Cortes  de  muchos  ciue  para 
ciatallo  de  los  mismos  Espanoles  esiiivo."  I.as  Casas,  Hist,  de  las  Indias, 
MS.,  lib.  3,  cap.  122, 

^"'  "  Que  iiiiiguuo  seria  tan  cobarde  y  tan  pusilanime  que  queria  estitnar  su 
vicl"i  mas  que  ^i  siiya,  ni  de  tan  debil  corazon  que  dudase  de  ir  con  ^1  6 
.Mexico.  (l(jr]d€  tanto  blen  le  estaba  aparejado,  y  que  si  aca.so  se  determinaba 
alguno  de  dcjar  de  hacer  e.ste  se  podia  ir  bendito  de  Dios  6  Cuba  en  el  uavio 
que  habirt  ru'.viujo,  de  que  antes  c'ft  tnucho  se  arrepentiria,  y  pelaria  lasbarbas, 
viendo  ia  b^trnif  vcntura  que  espraba  ]e  sucederia."  Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist. 
Chich.,  MS.,  caj:  S2. 


THE  FLEET  SUA'. 


257 


they  testified  the  revul'lon  of  their  feelings   by  making  the  air 
ling  with  their  shouts,    '  To  Mexico  !  to  Mexico !  " 

The  destruction  of  his  fleet  by  Cortds  is,  perhaps,  the  most 
remarkable  passage  in  the  life  of  this  remarkable  man.  History, 
indeed,  affords  examples  ot  a  similar  expedient  in  emergencies 
somewhat  similar;  but  none  where  the  chances  of  success  were 
so  precarious,  and  defeat  would  be  so  disastrous.^  Had  he 
failed,  it  might  well  seem  an  act  of  madness.  x''et  it  was  the 
fruit  of  deliberate  calculation.  He  had  set  fortune,  fame,  life 
itself,  all  upon  the  cast,  and  must  abide  the  issue.  There  was 
no  aiternaiive  in  his  mind  but  to  succeed  or  perish.  The  meas- 
ure he  adopted  greatly  increased  the  chance  of  success.  But  to 
carry  it  into  execution,  in  the  face  of  an  incensed  and  desperate 
soldiery,  was  an  act  of  resolution  that  has  few  parallels  in 
history.''^ 

**  Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  of  these  examples  is  that  of  Julian,  who. 
In  his  unfortunate  Assyrian  invasion,  burnt  the  fleet  whi'^li  had  carried  him 
up  the  Tigris.  The  story  is  tcld  by  Gibbon,  who  sIv.avs  verv  satisfactorily 
that  the  fleet  would  have  proved  a  hinderance  rather  than  a  help  to  the  em- 
peror \\\  his  further  progress.  See  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fail,  (vol.  IX. 
p.  177,)  of  Milman's  excellent  edition. 

'^  The  account  given  in  the  text  of  the  destruction  of  the  fleet  is  rot  that 
of  Bernal  Diaz,  who  states  it  to  have  been  accomplished,  not  only  with  the 
knowledge,  but  entire  approbation  of  the  army,  though  at  tli«:  suggestion  of 
Cortes.  (Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  5S).  This  version  is  .^ancHoned  by  Dr. 
Robertson  (History  ot  America,,  vol.  li.  pp.  253,  254!.  (^)ne  should  be  very 
slow  todcTjart  from  the  honest  teccrd  of  tne  old  soldier,  especially  when  con- 
firmed by  the  discriminatine  judgment  of  the  Historian  of  America.  But 
Cortes  exjiressly  declares  in  hiS  letter  to  the  emperor,  that  he  ordered  the  vessels 
to  be  sunk,  without  the  knowledge  of  his  men,  from  tiit  aijprchension,that,  i£ 
the  m'.-n.iis  of  escape  were  open,  tlif;  timid  and  disaffected  mij^ht,  atsome  future 
time,  avail  themselves  of  them.  [\\c\.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana.  p.41,)  The 
cavaliers  Montcio  y  Fuertocarrero,  en  their  visit  to  Spain,  stated  in  their  de- 
positions, that  the  genera]  dej^troycdth-^  Sect  on  information  received  from  the 
pilots.  (Declaraciones,  MSS.)  Narvaez  in  his  accusation  of  CcrtdsjnndLasCa- 
sas  .speak  of  the  act  in  terms  of  nmuaiified  reprobation,  charging  him,  more- 
over, with  brii.'ng  the  pilots  to  borelioles  '=:;  the  bottoms  of  tl.c  ships,  ir.  ordei 
to  disable  them..  (Demanda  de  Narvati,  MS,, — Hist,  de  las  indias,  MS., 
jib.  3,  cap.  X22.)  The  sams  acccunt  of  fnc  transactiofi,  though  -v\ilh  a_  very 
different  coinmc-istarv  as  co  i^a  insrits,  Ls  reivjated  by  Oviedo,  Il'^t.  de  las 
Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  33.  cap.  2.)  Ccrr.ara.  (C.-or.xa,  cap.  42./  and  Pt:cr  Martyr, 
(De  Orhe  Novo,  dec.  5,  cap.  \,\  ah  of  whom  had  access  to  the  best  sources 
of  inform.-ttir;!i. 

The  aff.-.ir,  so  remarkable  as  the  act  of  one  individual,  becomes  ab.soiuiely 
incredible,  v.hen  consi  '.ered  as  the  resuit  nf  so  manv  indei>enden;  wills.  Ii 
is  not  improhal^le,  that  Bern'-.;  Vivx/.  frorr.  hi--  known  devotion  "lo  the  cause, 
mav  have  b^' n  one  of  the  few  to  whom  Co;  te.s  confided  Iiis  pnr):>o9e.  The 
vetfiran,  in  writing  his  narrative,  v.,<n'.'  years  after,  may  ha-.e  mistakec  a  part 
for  tne  wh-)le,  ar.d  in  his  zeal  to  secure  to  the  .armv  a  fiiH  share  ot  the  *fiorv  of 
the  expedition,  too  exclasively  appropriated  i)v  the  genera!,  (a  ?;rf!.-x*  object. 
M  he  tells  us,  of  his  history,)  may  hay*  distributed  among  his  comrades  the 


«S8 


LA  C^SAS. 


credit  of  an  exploit  which,  in  this  instance,  at  least,  properly  belonged  to  their 
commander. — Whatever  be  the  cause  of  the  discrepancy,  his  solitary  testi* 
mony  can  hardly  be  sustained  against  the  weight  of  contemporary  evideoos 
from  such  competent  sources. 


Fray  Bartolome  de  ias  Casas,  bishop  of  Chiapa,  whose  "  History  of  the 
Indies  "  forms  an  important  authority  for  the  preceding  pages,  was  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  men  of  the  sixteenth  century.  He  was  born  at  Seville 
in  1474.  His  father  accompanied  Columbus,  as  a  common  soldier,  in  his  first 
voyage  to  the  New  World;  and  he  acquired  wealth  enough  by  his  vocation 
to  place  his  son  at  the  University  of  Salamanca.  During  his  residence  there, 
he  was  attended  by  an  Indian  page,  whom  his  father  had  brought  with  him 
from  Hispaiiiola.  Thus  the  uncompromising  advocate  for  freedom  began  his 
career  as  the  owner  of  a  slave  himself.  But  he  did  not  long  remain  so,  for 
his  slave  was  one  of  those  subsequently  liberated  by  the  generous  commands 
€>i  Isabella. 

In  1498.  he  completed  his  studies  in  law  and  divinity,  took  his  degree  ot 
licentiate,  and,  in  1502,  accompanied  Oviedo,  in  the  most  brilliant  armada 
which  had  been  equipped  for  the  Western  World.  Eight  years  after,  he  was 
admitted  to  priest's  orders  in  St.  Domingo,  an  event  somewhat  memorable, 
since  he  was  the  first  person  consecrated  in  that  holy  office  in  the  colonies. 
On  the  occupation  of  Cuba  by  the  Spaniards,  Las  Casas  passed  over  to  that 
island,  where  he  obtained  a  curacy  in  a  small  settlement.  He  soon,  however 
made  himself  known  to  the  governor,  Velasquez,  by  the  fidelity  with  which 
he  discharged  his  duties,  and  especially  by  the  influence  which  his  mild  and 
benevolent  teaching  obtained  for  him  over  the  Indians.  Through  his  intimacy 
with  the  governor,  Las  Casas  had  the  means  of  ameliorating  the  condition  of 
the  conquered  race,  and  from  this  time  h-:  may  be  said  to  have  consecrated 
all  his  energies  to  this  one  great  object.  At  this  period,  the  scheme  of  re~ 
farlimientos,  introduced  soon  after  the  discoveries  of  Columbus,  was  in  fuU 
operation,  and  the  Aboriginal  population  of  the  Islands  was  rapidly  melting 
away  under  a  system  of  oppression  which  has  been  seldom  paralleled  in  the 
annals  of  mankind.  Las  Casas,  outraged  at  the  daily  exhibition  of  crime  and 
misery,  returned  to  Spain  to  obtain  some  redress  from  government.  Ferdi- 
nand died  soon  after  his  arrival.  Charles  was  absent,  but  the  reins  were  held 
by  Cardinal  Ximenes,  who  listened  to  the  complaints  of  the  benevolent  mis- 
sionary, and,  with  his  characteristic  vigor,  instituted  a  commission  of  three 
Hieronomite  friars,  with  full  authority,  as  already  noticed  in  the  text,  to  reform 
abuses.  Las  Casas  was  honored,  for  his  exertions,  with  the  title  of  "  Pro- 
tector Genoral  of  the  Indians." 

The  new  commissioners  behaved  with  great  discretion.  But  their  office  was 
one  of  consummate  difficulty,  as  it  required  time  to  introduce  important  changes 
in  established  institutions.  The  ardent  and  imj^etuous  tem]:)er  of  Las  Casas, 
disdaining  every  consideration  of  prudence,  overleaped  all  these  obstacles, 
and  chafed  under  what  he  considered  the  lukewarm  and  temporizing  policy 
of  the  commissioners.  As  he  was  at  no  pains  to  conceal  his  disgust,  the  par- 
ties soon  came  to  a  misunderstanding  with  each  other  ;  and  Las  Casas  again 
returned  to  the  mother  country,  to  stimulate  the  government,  if  possible,  to 
more  effectual  measures  for  the  protection  of  the  natives. 

He  found  the  country  under  the  administration  of  the  Flemings,  who  dis- 
covered from  the  first  a  wholesome  abhorrence  of  the  abuses  practised  in  the 
colonies,  and  who,  in  short,  seemed  inclined  to  tolerate  no  peculation  or  ex- 
tortion, but  their  own.  They  acquiesced,  without  much  difficulty,  in  the  reo 
ommendations  of  Las  Casas,  who  proposed  to  relieve  the  natives  by  sending 


LA  CASAS. 


*n 


m.t  Castilian  laborers,  and  by  importing  Negro  slaves  hito  the  IsJanda.  Thift 
last  jiroposition  has  brought  heavy  obioqiu  on  the  hear  of  its  author,  who 
has  been  freely  accused  ot  having  thus  introduced  Negro  slavery  into  the 
Now  World.  Others,  with  equal  ground!e=.sness,  have  attempted  to  vindicate 
his  memory  from  the  reproacn  of  having  recomtr.ended  the  measure  at  all. 
Unfortun.ately  for  the  latter  a.ssertion,  I^s  Casas»  ir>  his  History  of  tij<»  Indies, 
confesses,  with  deep  regret  and  humiliation,  his  advice  on  this  occasirm, 
founded  on  the  most  erroneous  views,  as  h''  frankly  states;  since,  to  use  his 
own  words.  *' the  same  law  applies  equally  to  the  Negro  as  t.>th=  Indian." 
But  so  far  from  having  introduced  slaver/  by  this  measure  ir.tu  the  Isliinds, 
tne  imi..:>rtation  of  blacks  there  dates  from  the  beginning  of  fhe  century.  It 
was  recommended  by  some  of  the  wisest  and  mos:  benevolent  persons  in  the 
colony,  as  the  means  of  diminishing  the  .amount  oi  human  suffering;  since  the 
African  was  more  tiued  by  his  constitution  Ic  ervdtiie  the  cliinato  and  the  se* 
vere  toil  imposed  on  the  slave  than  the  feeble  and  effeminate  isiancier.  it  was 
a  suggestion  of  humanity,  however  mistaken,  and  considerinp  th<;  circntn- 
Etanres  under  which  it  oc'cirred,  and  tiie  age,  it  may  well  be  Firgiven  in  Las 
Casas,  especiallv  taking  into  v^ew,  that,  as  he  became  more  enlightened  him- 
self, he  was  so  ready  to  testify  his  regret  at  having  unadvisedly  coumenauced 
the  measure. 

The  e.xperiinent  recommended  by  Las  Casas  was  made,  but  through  th^ 
apathy  of  Fonseca.  president  of  the  Indian  Council,  not  heartily,. — and  i»-  fa::ed« 
I'he  good  nijsinnary  now  proposed  another,  ^nd  much  bold'^r  srhsme,  H* 
requested  that  a  large  tract  of  country  in  Tierra  Firme,  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  fam.ous  pear!  fisheries,  raighc  be  ceded  to  him  for  the  purpoee  nf  jilant' 
ing  acolonv  ther-.,  and  of  ccnvertirg  the  natives  to  Christiau'iy.  He  required 
that  none  of  the  aiuhorities  of  the  Islands,  and  no  mJlitarv  t'orcp  f'^pecialiy, 
should  be  ailowed  to  interfere  vrirh  his  movements.  He  piedgf.  nseiv  fe 
peaceful  means  ai^ne  ty  accomplish  all  that  had  been  done  by  "-  lerce  iit 
other  quarters.  He  asked  only  that  a  certain  number  cf  laoorers  siiouid  at- 
teiif!  \v.m,  invited  by  a  bounty  from  government,  ?.ncl  that  he  raight  further  be 
accon-.yanied  bv  fiftv  Dominicans,  wf)0  were  to  be  distinguished  VXe  himself 
by  a  peculiar  dress,  that  should  lead  the  natives  to  suppose  them  a  different  race 
of  men  fr.om  tie  Spaniards.  This  p.-opcJuon  was  deno-arced  aschirncvi.al  and 
fantastic  by  some,  wliose  own  cpporturniies  of  cbservatinn  "':'^.titlcd  .'heir  judg- 
ment to  respect.  These  men  declared  the  Indian,  from  his  riat'.jre,  incapable 
of  civilization.  The  question  was  cne  of  such  moment,  tha*-  Charles  the  Fifth 
ordered  the  discussio^  to  be  conducted  before  him.  The  opponer^t  cf  Las 
Ca-as  was  first  he?.rd,  when  the  good  missionary,  in  answer,  warmed  by  the 
noi'le  cause  he  was  to  maintain,  and  notliing  daunted  b;-  the  august  pre^e-.vce 
'v\  which  he  stood,  delivered  hin-iseif  with  a  fervent  'lotjuence  that  went  di- 
rectly to  the  hearts  of  his  aud'  o's,  "The  Christian  religion,"  he  concii;ded< 
"  is  equal  in  its  operation,  and  is  accommodated  ;■.  ever}'  nation  on  the  glofjc- 
It  robs  r.o  one  of  his  freedom,  violates  none  of  his  inherent  rij-iite.  or,  the 
ground  that  he  i.^  a  slave  by  nature,  as  pretended;  and  it  wel'  "y^comeH  >''our 
Majesty  to  Ixinish  so  monstious  an  oppression  from  your  kingdoiiis  in  the  he- 
ginning  of  vour  reign,  that  the  Almighty  niav  make  it  long  ana  glorious-''' 

In  the  end  Las  Casa?,  prevailed,  lie  was  furnished  wi'.a  the  ui.;n  a'.id  :neang 
for  estalj:i-,hing  his  colony;  and,  in  1520,  embarked  for  America.  But  the 
result  was  a  lamentable  failure.  The  country  assigned  to  him  lay  in  the 
neighborhood  of  a  .Sp^mish  settlement,  which  had  already  committed  som^. 
acts  of  viol' lice  on  the  natives.  To  quell  the  latter,  now  thrown  into  com- 
motion, an  armer!  force  was  sent  by  the  young  *'  dmiral  "  from  Hispaniola. 
The  very  peojilc,  among  whom  Las  Casas  was  j  appear  as  the  messenger  of 
p<;ace,  were  thus  involved  in  deadly  strife  with  his  countrymen.  The  ^nemy 
had  been  before  him  in  hi-  own  harvest.  Wfiile  waiting  for  the  close  of  these 
turbu.ent  scenes,  the   ial"  ;■  1  •.  \\\.-  m   he  had  taken  out  with  hitn,  dispersed 


f5o  L'^  CASAS. 

ft)  despair  of  effecting  their  object.  And  after  an  attempt  to  pursue,  with  hit 
faithful  Dominican  brethren,  the  work  of  colonization  further,  other  untoward 
circumstances  compelled  them  to  abandon  the  project  altogether.  Its  unfort- 
unate author,  overwhelmed  with  chagrin,  took  refuge  in  the  Dominican  mon- 
astery in  the  island  of  Hispaniola. — The  failure  of  the  enterprise  should,  no 
doubt,  be  partly  ascribed  to  circumstances  beyond  the  control  of  its  projector. 
Yet  it  is  impossible  not  to  recognize,  in  the  whole  scheme,  and  in  the  conduct 
of  it,  the  hand  of  one  much  more  familiar  with  books  than  men,  who,  in  the 
seclusion  of  the  cloister,  had  meditated  and  matured  his  benevolent  plans, 
without  fully  estimating  the  obstacles  that  lay  in  their  way,  and  who  counted 
too  confidently  on  meeting  the  same  generous  enthusiasm  in  others,  which 
glowed  in  his  own  bosom. 

He  found,  in  his  disgrace,  the  greatest  consolation  and  sympathy  from  the 
brethren  of  St.  Dominic,  who  stood  forth  as  the  avowed  champions  of  the 
Indians  on  all  occasions,  and  showed  themselves  as  devoted  to  the  cause  of 
freedom  in  the  New  World,  as  they  had  been  hostile  to  it  in  the  Old.  Las 
Casas  soon  became  a  member  of  their  order,  and,  in  his  monastic  retirement, 
applied  himself  for  many  years  to  the  performance  of  his  spiritual  duties,  and 
the  composition  of  various  works,  all  directed,  more  or  less,  to  vindicate  the 
rights  of  the  Indians.  Here,  too,  he  commenced  his  great  work,  the  "  His- 
toria  General  de  las  Indias,"  which  he  pursued,  at  intervals  of  leisure,  from 
1527  till  a  few  years  before  his  death.  His  time,  however,  was  not  wholly 
absorbed  by  these  labors;  and  he  found  means  to  engage  in  several  laborious 
missions.  He  preached  the  gospel  among  the  natives  of  Nicaragua,  and 
Guatemala;  and  succeeded  in  converting  and  reducing  to  obedience  some 
wild  tribes  in  the  latter  province,  who  had  defied  the  arms  of  his  countrymen. 
In  all  these  pious  labors,  he  was  sustained  by  his  Dominican  brethren.  At 
length,  in  1 539,  he  crossed  the  waters  again,  to  seek  further  assistance  and 
recruits  a'  long  the  members  of  his  order. 

A  great  change  had  taken  place  In  the  board  that  now  presided  over  the 
colonial  department.  The  cold  and  narrow-minded  Fonseca,  who,  during 
his  long  administration,  had,  it  may  e  truly  said,  shown  himself  the  enemy 
of  every  great  name  and  good  lea-^ure  :^nnected  with  the  Indians,  had  died. 
His  place,  as  president  of  the  Indi-n  Council,  was  filled  by  Loaysa,  Charles's 
confessor.  This  functionary,  jencr-^l  of  t"'^e  Dominicans,  gave  ready  audience 
to  Las  Casas,  and  showd  a  ffocd  wi  1  o  his  proposed  plans  of  reform. 
Charles,  too,  now  grown  oldei',  e^n^ed  o  eel  more  deeply  the  responsibility 
of  his  station,  and  the  necessity  ol  edr^-sing  the  wrongs,  too  long  tolerated, 
of  his  American  subjects.  Thj  statj  of  .he  colonies  became  a  common  topic 
of  discussion,  not  only  in  thee  uncil,  but  in  the  court;  and  the  representations 
of  Las  Casas  made  an  impression  h-'.t  nanifested  itself  in  the  change  of 
sentiment  more  clearly  every  day  He  promoted  this  by  the  publication  of 
some  of  his  writings  atthis  time,  and  esijecially  of  his  "  Brevisima  Relacion,** 
or  short  Account  of  th-  Destruction  of  the  Indies,  in  which  he  sets  before 
the  reader  the  manifold  atrocities  committed  by  his  countrymen  in  different 
parts  of  the  New  World  in  the  prosecution  of  their  conquests.  It  is  a  tale  of 
woe.  Every  line  of  the  work  may  be  said  to  be  written  in  blood.  However 
good  the  motives  of  its  author,  we  may  regret  that  the  book  was  ever  written. 
He  would  have  been  certainly  right  not  to  spare  his  countrymen;  to  exhibit 
their  misdeeds  in  their  true  colors,  and  by  this  appalling  picture — for  such  it 
would  have  been — to  have  recalled  the  nation,  and  those  who  governed  it, 
to  a  proper  sense  of  the  iniquitous  career  it  was  pursuing  on  the  other  side 
of  the  water.  But,  to  produce  a  more  striking  effect,  he  has  lent  a  willing 
ear  to  every  talc  of  violence  and  rapine,  and  magnified  the  amount  to  a  degree 
which  borders  on  the  ridiculous.  The  wild  extravagance  of  his  numerical 
estimates  is  of  itself  siitticieiit  to  shake  rontidence  in  the  accuracy  of  his 
Btatements  generally.     Yet  the  naked  trutii  was  too  startling  iu   itself  to  d»- 


LA  CASAS.  26t 

nand  the  aid  of  exaggeration.  The  book  found  great  favor  with  foreigners, 
was  rapidly  translated  into  various  languages,  and  ornamented  with 
characteris:ic  designs,   which  seemed   to  put  into  action  all  the  recorded 

atrocities  of  the  text.  It  excited  somewhat  different  feelings  in  his  own 
couiitrvmen,  particularly  the  people  of  the  colonies,  who  considered  thena- 
selves  the  subjects  of  a  gross,  however  undesigned,  misrepresentation;  and, 
in  his  future  intercourse  with  them,  it  contributed,  no  doubt,  to  diminish  his 
influence  and  consequent  usefulness,  by  the  spirit  of  alienation,  and  even 
fesentment,  which  it  engendered. 

Las  Casa.-'  hcnest  intentions,  his  enlightened  views  and  long  experience, 
gained  him  deserved  credit  at  home.  This  was  visible  in  the  important  rc-g- 
■ilations  made  at  this  tmie  for  the  better  government  of  the  colonies,  and 
particularly  in  respect  to  the  Aborigines.  A  code  of  laws.  Las  Ntt-'rvas  L^yei^ 
was  passed,  having  for  their  avowed  object  the  enfranchisement  of  this  un- 
tortunate  race;  and,  in  the  wisdom  and  humanity  of  its  provisions,  it  is  easy 
to  reccgnize  the  iiand  cf  the  Fr  lector  of  the  Indians.  The  history  of  SpanisB 
coioniai  lej^islation  is  the  history  of  the  impotent  struggles  of  the  govenv 
naeiu  in  behalf  of  the  natives,  against  the  avarice  and  cruelty  of  its  subjects. 
it  proves  that  an  empire  powerful  at  home— a.. d  Spain  then  was  so — may  be 
so  widely  extended,  that  its  authority  shall  scarcely  be  fei:  in  its  extremities. 

The  government  testified  heir  sense  of  the  signal  services  of  Las  CasaB, 
by  promoting  him  to  the  bishopric  of  Cuzco,  one  of  the  richest  sees  m  the 
colonies.  But  the  disinterested  sou!  of  the  missionary  did  not  covet  riche? 
or  preferment  He  ieje^ted  the  proffered  dignity  without  hesitation.  Yet 
he  could  not  refuse  the  bishopric  of  Chiapa,  a  country,  which,  from  tha 
poverty  and  ignorance  oi  its  inhabitants,  offered  a  good  field  for  hif;  spiritual 
libofs,  in  1544,  though  at  the  advanced  age  of  sevent'',  he  took  upon  him* 
self  these  new  duties,  1  nd  embarked,  for  the  fifth  and  last  time,  for  the  shore* 
of  Ameiica.  His  fame  had  preceded  him.  The  colonists  looked  on  hi$ 
■Cuming  with  apprehension,  regarding  him  as  the  real  author  of  the  new  cxie, 
which  struck  at  their  ancient  irnnuiniti.'.s,  and  which  be  would  be  likely  to 
enforce  to  the  l';tter.  Everywhere  he  was  rccfived  with  coldness.  In  some 
places  his  person  was  menaced  with  violence.  But  the  venerable  presence 
A  th2  prelate,  his  earnest  expostulations,  which  flowed  so  obviously  from 
conviction,  and  his  generous  self-devotion,  so  regardless  of  personal  con« 
piderations.  preserved  him  from  this  outrage.  Vet  he  shf)wed  n;..  disposition 
to  concilintc  iiis  oirponerits  bv  what  he  deerned  an  unworthy  concession :  and 
he  even  sti'tched  the  arm  of  authority  so  far  as  to  refuse  the  sacraments  to 
any,  who  stiii  held  an  Indian  in  bondagti.  This  high  handed  measure  no4 
only  outraged  the  planters,  but  incurred  the  disapprobation  of  his  own 
brethren  in  the  Church.  Three  years  were  spent  in  disagreeable  altercation 
without  coming  to  any  decisio...  The  Spaniards,  to  borrow  their  accustomed 
phrasc<jlogv  on  these  occasions,  "obeying  liie  law,  but  not  fuifiilit.g  it,"'"* 
au]):ied  to  the  Court  for  further  instructions;  and  the  bishop,  no  longer  sup- 
ported by  his  own  brethren,  thwa.'^ted  by  die  colonial  magistrate:-..,  and  out- 
raged by  the  people,  relimiuished  a  post  where  his  ;)resencc  coakl  be  iiO 
further  useful,  and  returned  to  spend  the  remainder  of  bisdayy  in  tranquillity 
at  home. 

Yet,  thouuh  withdrawn  to  his  r)omin;can  convent,  he  did  not  pass  hia 
liours  is  sloihfii]  seclusion.  He  again  ap!>enred  as  •"he  champion  of  In- 
dian freedom  in  the  famous  controversy  with  Sepulveda,  one  of  the  most 
asiutesclujlars  of  the  time,  and  far  sm  passing  Las  Casas  in  elegance,  aiid 
c  rrcctne.ss  of  com[)osition.  But  llu;  bishop  of  Chiapa  was  his  su5>erior  in 
argument,  at  least  in  this  discussion,  v.herc  he  had  right  and  reason  oi;  hia 
side,  In'his  '-Thirty  rrojjosiiioiu  ."'  1  thev  arc  railed,  in  which  he  sr.ms  up 
the  '-everal  points  of  his  case,  he  maintains,  that  the  circumstance  of  tnfideiia» 


f52  LA  CASAS. 

in  religion  cannot  deprive  a  nation  of  its  political  rights ;  that  the  Holy  See^ 
in  its  grant  of  the  New  World  to  the  Catholic  sovereigns,  designed  only  te 
confer  the  right  of  converting  its  inhabitants  to  Christianity,  and  of  thus 
winning  a  peaceful  authority  over  them  ;  and  that  no  authority  could  be  valid, 
which  rested  on  other  foundations.  This  was  striking  at  the  root  of  the 
colonial  empire,  as  assumed  by  Castile.  But  the  disinterested  views  of  Las 
Casas,  the  respect  entertained  for  his  principles,  and  the  general  conviction, 
it  may  be,  of  the  force  of  his  arguments,  prevented  the  Court  from  taking 
umbrage  at  their  import,  or  from  pressing  them  to  their  legitimate  conclusioiL 
While  the  writings  of  his  adversary  were  interdicted  from  publication,  he  had 
the  satisfaction  to  see  his  own  printed  and  circulated  in  ever\-  quarter. 

From  this  period  his  time  was  distributed  among  his  religious  duties,  hit 
Studies,  and  the  composition  of  his  works,  especially  his  History.  His  con- 
stitution, naturally  excellent,  had  been  strengthened  by  a  life  of  temperance 
And  toil;  and  he  retained  his  faculties  unimpaired  to  the  last.  He  died  after 
a  short  illness,  July,  1566,  at  the  great  age  of  ninety-two,  in  his  monastery  of 
Atocha,  at  Madrid. 

The  character  of  Las  Casas  may  be  inferred  from  his  career.  He  was 
one  of  those,  to  whose  gifted  minds  are  revealed  those  glorious  moral  truths, 
which,  like  the  lights  of  heaven,  are  fixed  and  the  same  forever;  but  which, 
though  now  familiar,  were  hidden  from  all  but  a  few  penetrating  intellects  by 
the  general  darkness  of  the  time  in  which  he  lived.  He  was  a  reformer,  and 
had  the  virtues  and  errors  of  a  reformer.  He  was  inspired  by  one  great  and 
glorious  idea.  This  was  the  key  to  all  his  thoughts,  all  that  he  said  and  wrote, 
to  every  act  of  his  long  life.  It  was  this  which  urged  him  to  lift  the  voice  of 
rebuke  in  the  presence  of  princes,  to  brave  the  menaces  of  an  infuriated  pop- 
ulace, to  cross  seas,  to  traverse  mountains  and  deserts,  to  incur  the  alienation 
of  friends,  the  hostility  of  enemies,  to  endure  obloquy,  insult,  and  persecution. 
It  was  this,  too,  which  made  him  reckless  of  obstacles,  led  him  to  count  too 
confidently  on  the  cooperation  of  others,  animated  his  discussion,  sharpened 
bis  invective,  too  often  steeped  his  pen  in  the  gall  of  personal  vituperations 
led  him  into  gross  exaggeration  and  over-coloring  in  his  statements,  and  a 
blind  credulity  of  evil  that  rendered  him  unsafe  as  a  counsellor,  and  un- 
successful in  the  practical  concerns  of  life.  His  motives  were  pure  and 
elevated.  But  his  manner  of  enforcing  them  was  not  always  so  commendable. 
This  may  be  gathered  not  only  from  the  testimony  of  the  colonists  generally, 
who,  as  parties  interested,  maybe  supposed  to  have  been  prejudiced;  but 
from  that  of  the  members  of  his  own  profession,  persons  high  in  office,  and 
of  integrity  beyond  suspicion,  not  to  add  that  of  missionaries  engaged  in  the 
same  good  work  with  himself.  These,  in  their  letters  and  reported  conversa- 
tions, chargefl  the  Bishop  of  Chiaj^a  with  an  arrogant,  uncharitable  temper, 
which  deluded  his  judgment,  and  vented  itself  in  unwarrantable  crimination 
against  such  as  resisted  his  projects,  or  differed  from  him  in  opinion.  Las 
Casas,  in  short,  was  a  man.  But,  if  he  had  the  errors  of  humanity,  he  had 
virtues  that  rarely  belong  to  it.  The  best  commentary  on  his  character  is 
the  estimation  which  he  obtained  in  the  court  of  his  sovereign.  A  liberal 
pension  was  settled  on  him  after  his  last  return  from  America,  which  he 
chiefly  expended  on  chnritable  objects.  No  measure  of  importance,  relating 
to  the  Indians,  was  taken  without  his  advice.  He  lived  to  see  the  fruits  of 
his  efforts  in  the  positive  amelioration  of  their  condition,  and  in  the  popular 
admission  of  those  great  truths  which  it  had  been  the  object  of  his  life  to  un- 
fold. And  who  shall  say  how  much  of  the  successful  efforts  and  arguments 
since  made  in  behalf  of  persecuted  humanilv  may  be  traced  to  the  example 
and  the  writings  of  this  illustrious  philanthroi^ist ) 

His  compositions  were  numerous,  most  of  them  of  no  great  length.  Some 
were  printed  in  his  time :  others  have  since  appeared,  especially  in  the  French 


LA   CASAS.  363 

translation  of  Llorente.  His  great  work,  which  occupied  him  at  intervals  for 
more  than  thirty  years,  the  Historia  General  de  las  Indias,  still  remains  in 
manuscript.  It  is  in  three  volumes,  divided  into  as  many  parts,  and  embraces 
the  colonial  history  from  the  discovery  of  the  country  by  Columbus  to  the 
year  1520.  The  style  of  the  work,  like  that  of  all  his  writings,  is  awkward,  dis- 
jointed, and  excessively  diffuse;  abounding  in  repetitions,  irrelevant  digres- 
sions, and  pedantic  citations.  But  it  is  sprinkled  over  with  passages  of  a 
different  kind;  and,  when  he  is  roused  by  the  desire  to  exhibit  some  gross 
wrong  to  the  natives,  his  simple  language  kindles  into  eloquence,  and  he  ex- 
pounds tiio;e  great  and  immutable  principles  of  natural  justice,  which  in  his 
own  day,  were  so  little  understood.  His  defect  as  a  historian  is,  that  he 
wrote  history,  like  everything  else,  under  ihe  influence  of  one  dominant  idea. 
He  is  ahvavs  pleading  the  cause  of  the  persecuted  native.  This  gives  a 
coloring  to  events  which  passed  under  his  own  eyes,  and  filled  him  with  a  too 
easy  confidence  in  those  which  he  gathered  from  the  reports  of  others.  Much 
of  the  preceding  portion  of  our  narrative  which  relates  to  affairs  in  Cuba 
must  have  come  under  his  personal  observation.  But  he  seems  incapable  of 
shaking  off  his  early  deference  to  Velasquez,  who,  as  we  have  noticed,  treated 
him,  while  a  poor  curate  in  the  island,  with  peculiar  confidence,  For  Cortes, 
on  the  other  hand,  he  ajipears  to  have  felt  a  profound  contempt.  He 
witnessed  the  commencement  of  his  career,  when  he  was  standing,  cap  in 
hand,  as  it  were,  at  the  proud  governor's  door,  thankful  even  for  a  smile  of 
recognition.  Las  Casas  remembered  all  this,  and,  when  he  saw  the  Con- 
queror of  Mexico  rise  into  a  glory  and  renown,  that  threw  his  former  patron 
into  the  shade, — and  most  unfairly,  as  Las  Casas  deemed,  at  the  expense  of 
that  patron, — the  good  bishop  conld  not  withhold  his  indignation;  nor  speak 
of  him  otherwise  than  with  a  sneer,  as  a  mere  upstart  adventurer. 

It  was  the  existence  of  defects  like  these,  and  the  fear  of  the  miscon- 
ception likely  to  be  produced  by  them,  that  have  so  long  prevented  the 
publication  of  his  history.  At  his  death,  he  left  it  to  the  convent  of  San 
Gregorio,  at  Valladolid,  with  directions  that  it  should  not  be  printed  for 
forty  years,  nor  be  seen  during  that  time  by  any  layman  or  member  of  the 
fraternity.  Herrera,  however  was  permitted  to  consult  it,  and  he  liberally 
transferred  its  contents  to  his  own  volumes,  which  appeared  in  1601.  The 
Royal  Academy  of  History  revised  the  first  volume  of  Las  Casas  some  years 
since,  with  a  view  to  the  publication  of  the  whole  work.  But  the  indiscreet 
and  imaginative  style  of  the  composition,  according  to  Navarrete,  and 
the  consideration  that  its  most  important  facts  were  already  known  through 
other  channels,  induced  that  body  to  abandon  the  design.  With  deference  to 
their  judgment,  it  seems  tome  a  mistake.  Las  Casas  with  every  deduction 
is  one  of  the  great  writers  of  the  nation;  great  from  the  important  truthis 
which  he  discerned  when  none  else  could  see  them,  and  from  the  courage 
with  which  he  proclaimed  them  to  the  world.  They  are  scattered  over  his 
History  as  well  as  his  other  writings.  They  are  not  however,  the  passages 
transcribed  bv  Herrera.  In  the  statement  of  fact,  too,  however  partial  and 
prejudiced,  no  one  will  imj^each  his  integrity  ;  and  as  an  enlightened  con- 
temporary, his  evidence  is  of  undeniable  value.  It  is  due  to  the  memory  of  Las 
Casas,  that  if  his  work  be  given  to  the  public  at  all,  it  should  not  be  through 
the  garbled  extracts  of  one  who  was  no  fair  interpreter  of  his  opinions. 
Las  Casas  rloes  not  speak  for  himself  in  the  courtly  pages  of  Herrera.  Yet 
the  History  should  not  be  published  without  a  suitable  commentary  to  en- 
lighten the  student,  and  guard  him  against  any  undue  prejudices  in  the 
writer.  We  may  hope  that  the  entire  manuscript  will  one  day  be  given  to 
the  world  under  the  auspices  of  that  distinguished  body,  which  has  alreadv 
done  so  much  in  this  way  for  the  illustraticm  of  the  national  aimals. 

The  life  of  Las  Casas  has  been   several  times  written.     The   two  memoir£ 


«64 


LA  CAS  AS. 


most  worthy  of  notice  are  that  by  Llorente.  late  secretary  of  the  Inquisition, 

prefixed  to  his  French  translation  of  the  Bishop's  controversial  writings, 
and  that  by  Quintana,  in  the  third  volume  of  his  "  Espaiioles  Celebres," 
where  it  presents  a  truly  noble  specimen  of  biographical  composition,  en- 
riched by  a  literary  criticism  as  acute  as  it  is  candid. — I  have  gone  to  the 
greater  length  in  this  notice,  from  the  interesting  character  of  the  man,  and 
the  little  that  is  known  of  him  to  the  English  reader.  I  have  also  transferred 
a  passage  from  his  work  in  the  original  to  the  Appendix,  that  the  Span-, 
isli  scholar  may  form  an  idea  of  his  style  of  composition.  He  ceases  tC- 
be  an  authority  for  us  hereafter,  as  his  account  of  the  expedition  of  Cort^ 
tenninates  with  the  destruction  of  the  navy. 


BOOK   THE   THIRD 

MARCH  TO  MEXIUX 


BOOK  III. 

MARCH  T<.>  MP:XIC0. 


CHAPTER  I, 

Proceedings  AT  Cempoalla. — The  Spaniards  climb  the  Table- 
land.— Picturesque  Scenery. —  Transactions  with  the 
Natives. — Embassy  to  Tlascala. 

While  at  Cempoalla,  Cortes  received  a  message  from  Esca. 
lante,  his  commander  at  Villa  Rica,  informing  him  there  w^'re 
four  strange  ships  hovering  off  the  coast,  and  that  they  took  n<i 
notice  of  his  repeated  signals.  This  intelligence  greatly  alarmed 
the  general,  who  feared  they  might  be  a  squadron  sent  by  the 
governor  of  Cuba,  to  interfere  with  his  movements.  In  much 
haste,  he  set  out  at  the  head  of  a  few  horsemen,  and,  ordering; 
a  party  of  light  infantry  to  follow,  posted  back  to  Villa  Rica. 
The  rest  of  the  army  he  left  in  charge  of  Alvarado  and  of  Gonzalii 
de  Sandoval,  a  young  officer,  who  had  begun  to  give  evidence 
of  the  uncommon  qualities  which  have  secured  to  him  so  disti::- 
guishcd  a  rank  among  the  conquerors  of  Mexico. 

Escalante  would  have  persuaded  the  general,  on  his  reaching 
the  town,  to  take  some  rest,  and  allow  him  to  go  in  search  of 
the  strangers.  But  Corttfs  replied  with  the  homely  proverb,  '\\ 
wounded  hare  lakes  no  nap,"  '  and,  without  stopping  to  refresh 
himself  or  his  men,  pushed  on  three  or  four  leagues  to  the  north, 
where  he  understood  the  ships  were  at  anchor.  On  the  way,  h" 
fell  in  with  three  Spaniards,  just  landed  from  them.  To  his  eago- 
inquiries  whence  they  came,  they  replied,  that  they  belonged  [•) 
a  squadron  fitted  out  by  Francisco  de  Garay,  governor  of  Jamaica. 
This  person,  the  year  previous,  had  visited  the  Florida  coast, 
and  obtained  from  Spain  —  where  he  had  some  interest  at  cou-^ 
— authority  over  the  countries  he  might  discover  in  that  vicinit}-. 
The  three  men,  consisting  of  a  notary  and  two  witnesses,  had 
been  sent  on  shore  to  warn  their  countrymen  under  Cortes  to 
desist  from  what  was  considered  an  encroachment  on   the  ter 

*  "Cabra  coxa  no  tenga  siesta." 


168  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

ritories  of  Garay.    Probably  neither  the  governor  of  Jamaica, 

nor  his  officers,  had  any  very  precise  notion  of  tbe  gec^aphy 
and  limits  of  these  territories. 

Cortds  saw  at  once  there  was  nothing  to  apprehend  from  this 
quarter.  He  would  have  been  glad,  however,  if  he  could,  by 
any  means,  have  induced  the  crews  of  the  ships  to  join  his  ex* 
pedition.  He  found  no  difficulty  in  persuading  the  notary  and 
bis  companions.  But  when  he  came  in  sight  of  the  vessefsj  the 
people  on  board,  distrusting  the  good  terms  on  which  their 
comrades  appeared  to  be  with  the  Spaniards,  refused  to  send 
their  boat  ashore.  In  his  dilemma,  Cortds  had  recourse  to  a 
stratagem. 

He  ordered  three  of  his  own  men  to  exchange  dresses  with 
the  new  comers.  He  then  drew  off  his  little  band  in  sight  of 
the  vessels,  affectirg  to  return  to  the  city.  In  the  night,  how- 
ever, he  came  back  to  the  same  place,  and  lay  in  ambush^  direct- 
ing the  disguised  Spaniards,  when  the  morning  broke,  and  they 
could  be  discerned,  to  make  signals  to  those  on  board.  The 
artifice  succeeded.  A  boat  put  off,  filled  with  armed  men,  and 
three  or  four  leaped  on  shore.  But  they  soon  detected  the  de- 
ceit, and  Cortes,  springing  from  his  ambush,  made  them  prison- 
ers. Their  comrades  in  the  boat,  alarmed,  pushed  off,  at  once, 
for  the  vessels,  which  soon  got  underway,  leaving  those  en  shore 
to  their  fate.  Thus  ended  the  affair.  Cortes  returned  to  Cempo- 
alla,  with  the  addition  of  half  a  dozen  able-bodied  recruits,  and, 
what  was  of  more  importance,  relieved  in  his  own  mind  from  the 
apprehension  of  interference  with  his  operations.'^ 

He  now  made  arrangements  for  his  speedy  departure  from 
the  Totcnac  capital.  The  forces  reser\'ed  for  the  expedition 
amounted  to  about  four  hundred  foot  and  fifteen  horse,  with 
seven  pieces  of  artillery.  He  obtained,  also,  thirteen  hundred 
Indian  warriors,  and  a  thousand  iat/ianes,  or  porters,  from  the 
cacique  of  Cempoalla,  to  drag  the  guns,  and  transport  the  bag- 
gage. He  took  forty  more  of  their  principal  men  as  hosfiges,  as 
well  as  to  guide  him  on  the  way,  ami  serve  him  by  their  counsels 
among  the  strange  tribes  he  was  to  visit.  They  were,  in  fact 
of  essential  service  to  him  throughout  the  march.*^ 

The  remainder  of  his  Spanish  force  he  left  in  garrison  at  Villa 

*  Oviedo,  Hist,  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  2>Z-  '^•iP'  L— l^el.  Scg.  de  Cortes, ap- 
Lorenzana,  pj).  42-45. — Bernal  Uiaz.  Hist,  de  la  conquista,  cap,  59,  60, 

8  Gomara,  Cronica  cap.  44. — Ixtlilxochit!,  Hist,  Chich..  MS.,  cap.  83. — 
Berviul  Diaz,  Hist  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  61. 

Tiie  number  of  the  Indian  auxiliaries  stated  in  the  text  is  .u;h  larger  than 
that  allowed  by  either  Cortes  or  Diaz.  Both  these  actors  a  the  drairia  show 
too  obvious  a  desire  to  magnify  their  own  prowess,  by  exaggerating  the  num- 
bers of  their  foes,  and  diminishing  their  own,  to  beentitled  to  much  confidenoi 
Id  tbeir  estiniat';s. 


PROCEEDINGS  A  T  CEMPOALLA.  26$ 

Rica  de  Vera  Cruz,  the  command  of  which  be  had  intrusted  to 

the  alguacil,  Juan  de  Escalante,  an  officer  devoted  to  his  inter- 
ests. The  selection  was  judicious.  It  was  important  to  place 
there  a  man  who  would  resist  any  hostile  interference  from  his 
European  rivals,  on  the  one  hand,  and  maintain  the  present 
friendly  relations  widt  ihe  natives,  on  the  other.  Cones  recom- 
mended the  Totonac  chiefs  to  apply  to  this  officer,  in  case  of 
any  difnci:lty,  assuring  them,  that,  so  long  as  they  rem.ained 
faithful  to  rheir  new  sovereign  aud  religion,  they  should  find  a 
sure  protection  in  the  Spaniards. 

Before  marching,  the  general  spolce  a  tew  words  ot  encourage- 
ment to  his  own  men.  lie  told  them,  tiiey  were  now  10  embark, 
in  earnes;,  on  an  enterprise  which  had  been  the  great  object  of 
their  dc-sires ;  and  that  the  blessed  Saviour  would  carry  them 
victorious  through  every  battle  'A'ith  their  enemies,  "indeed," 
he  added,  '•  this  assurance  must  be  our  stay,  for  every  other 
refuge  is  now  cut  oft,  but  that  afforded  by  the  Providence  of  God, 
and  your  own  stout  hearts.''-'  He  ended  by  comparing  their 
achievements  to  those  of  the  ancient  P:.omans,  'Mn  phrases  of 
honeyed  eloquence  far  be}ond  anything  i  can  repeat,''  says  the 
brave  and  simple-hearted  chronicler  who  .heard  them.  Cortds 
was,  indeed,  master  of  that  eloquence  which  went  to  the  soldiers* 
hear's.  For  their  sympathies  were  his,  and  he  shared  in  thai 
rotnantic  spirit  of  adventure  which  belonged  to  them.  "  We  are 
ready  to  obey  you,"  they  cried  as  with  one  \  oice.  ■'  Oin  fortunes, 
f')r  betr.er  or  v.orse.  arc-  cas:  with  yours.''"'  Talking  leave» 
t;vjre:r;re,  of  their  hospitable  fnciian  friends,  tlie  liule  army, 
buo}"a"t  w';h  high  hopes  and  lofty  plans  of  conquesu  set  forward 
on  the  niTTct  ro  Mexi'-o. 

It  was  the  sixteenth  of  August,  1519.  During  the  first  day,. 
their  road  lay  irirough  the  turra  calients.  die  beautiful  land 
where  they  had  Ijeen  so  long  lingering;  the  land  of  tlie  vanillaj 
cochineal,  cacao,  fnot  till  later  days  of  the  orange  and  the  sugar- 
cane,) prnthicts  which.  i;.digenous  to  Mexico,  have  now  become 
the  luxuiies  of  Furor.e  r  tlie  land  where  the  fruits  and  ti^.e  tiowerB 
chase  one  another  i:.  unbrc  ken  circle  through  the  }-e.i!  ,  wlicrfi 
the  u-;!ies  are  loaded  w!'h  periuiiies  til»  the  set:se  nci;;  --  at  tiieir 
sv  '-e'lress  ;  and  thi.;  groves  are  nlieii  with  niany-coiored  hirds,  and 
}n-ec;s  wh(;>e  enaiiie'led  wuigs  glisten  like  uiamonds  in  the 
^»ri2;ht  ^t:i!  of  'he  trrjy'i  s.  Such  aie  the  iiir:;^ir:il  spis-nd'TS  ot  ihis 
paradise  ei    dii-   S'ji.:-e.-,.      Vet  Kdrure.  v.h:;  generall)  v.orks  in  » 

*  "  Nf'  .  ;.:-i:r.:,  ./tro  -'.'.orrr..  ni  avu'ia  .-;n.->  oi  de  Dios  ;  porquc  VA  no  tert- 
ian-;'.s  xi.  :.  M  T,^  ;ra  ir  :i  (Jiiha,  salvo  iiuestro  l-ii'jii  pclear,  y  cora^oiies  fuerten." 
Beriiul  l;i.i/,  il.  t.    ^\:-  \\\  Contju;    a.  (.:ap.  59. 

•'  "  V   i     '1-   a   \::i    Ic   respondinios.   (jiic   hariamos  lo  (|iie   ord."nassc,   qu€ 
•cLacia  Ciiaii:;  ia  ;an.-rte  de  la  buena,  o  niaia  veiMiiia."     I.ia-,  c';. 
^1  'x:-)  12  "V^d.  1 


•70 


MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 


spirit  of  compensation,  has  provided  one  here  ;  since  the  same 
burning  sun,  which  quickens  into  life  these  glories  of  the  vege- 
table  and  animal  kingdoms,  calls  forth  the  pestilent  malaria, 
with  its  train  of  bilious  disorders,  unknown  to  the  cold  skies  of 
the  North.  The  season  in  which  the  Spaniards  were  there,  the 
rainy  months  of  summer,  was  precisely  that  in  which  the  vbmito 
rages  with  greatest  fury ;  when  the  European  stranger  hardly 
ventures  to  set  his  foot  on  shore,  still  less  to  linger  there  a  day. 
We  find  no  mention  made  of  it  in  the  records  of  the  Conquerors, 
nor  any  notice,  indeed,  of  an  uncommon  mortality.  The  fact 
doubtless  corroborates  the  theory  of  those  who  postpone  the 
appearance  of  tl"ve  yellow  fever  till  long  after  the  occupation  of 
the  country  by  the  whites.  It  proves,  at  least,  that,  if  existing  be- 
fore it  must  have  been  in  a  very  much  mitigated  form. 

After  some  leagues  of  travel  over  roads  made  nearly  impas- 
sable by  the  summer  rains,  the  troops  began  the  gradual  ascent 
—more  gradual  on  the  eastern  than  the  western  declivities  of 
the  Cordilleras — which  leads  up  to  the  table-land  of  Mexico. 
At  the  close  of  the  second  day,  they  reached  Xalapa,  a  place 
Still  retaining  the  same  Aztec  name,  that  it  has  communicated  to 
the  drug  raised  in  its  environs,  the  medicinal  virtues  of  which 
are  now  known  throughout  the  world.s  I'his  town  stands  mid- 
Way  up  the  long  ascent,  at  an  elevation  where  the  vapors  from 
the  ocean,  touching  in  their  westerly  progress,  maintain  a  rich 
verdure  throughout  the  year.  Though  somewhat  infected  with 
these  marine  fogs,  the  air  is  usually  bland  and  salubrious.  The 
wealthy  resident  of  the  lower  regions  retires  here  for  safety  in 
the  heats  of  summer,  and  the  traveller  hails  its  groves  of  oak 
with  delight,  as  announceing  that  he  is  above  the  deadly  influ- 
ence of  the  vbmito?  From  this  delicious  sjDot,  the  Spaniards 
enjoyed  one  of  the  grandest  prospects  in  nature.  Before  them 
was  the  steep  ascent, — much  steeper  after  this  point, — which 
the\-  \vere  to  climb.  On  the  right  rose  the  Sierra  ATadre,  girt 
with  its  dark  belt  of  pines,  and  its  long  lines  of  shadowy  hills 
stretching  away  in  the  distance.  To  the  south,  in  brilliant  con- 
trast, stood  the  mighty  Orizaba,  with  his  white  robes  of  snow 
descending  far  down  his  sides,  towering  in  solitary  grandeur, 
the  giant  spectre  of  the  Andes.  Behind  them,  they  beheld., 
unrolled  at  their  feet,  the  magriificent  tierra  caliente,  with  its  gay 

'^  Jalap,  Convolvulus  jalapte.  The  x  and/  are  convertible  consonants  in  the 
Castilian. 

"  The  heights  of  Xalapa  are  crowned  with  a  convent  dedicated  to  St.  Francis, 
erected  in  later  days  by  Cortes,  showing,  in  its  solidity,  like  others  of  th*; 
period  built  under  the  same  auspices,  says  an  agreeable  traveller,  a  military  aj 
well  as  religious  design.  Tudor's  Travels  in  North  America,  (London,  1834.J 
TOL  II,  p.  186, 


PICTURESQUE  SCENEkY,  27 1 

confusion  of  meadows,  streams,  and  flowering  forests,  sprinkled 

over  with  shining  Indian  villages;  while  a  faint  line  of  Ught  on 
the  edge  of  the  horizon  told  them  that  there  was  the  ocean, 
beyond  which  were  the  kindred  and  country — they  were  many  of 
them  never  more  to  see. 

Still  winding  their  way  upward,  amidst  scenery  as  different  as 
was  the  temperature  from  that  of  the  regions  below,  liie  army 
passed  througii  settlements  containing  some  hundreds  of  iiilKibi- 
tants  each,  and  on  the  fourth  day  reached  a  "strong  town,"  as 
Con^s  terms  it,  standing  on  a  rockv  eminence,  supposed  to  be 
that  now  known  by  the  Mexican  name  of  Naulinco.  Here  they 
were  hospitably  entertained  by  the  inhabitants,  who  were 
friends  of  the  Totonacs.  Coite's  endeavored,  thro'igh  father 
Ohnedo,  to  impart  to  them  some  knowledge  of  Christian  truths, 
which  were  kindly  received,  and  the  Spaniards  were  allowed  to 
erect  a  cross  in  the  r^lace,  for  the  future  adoration  of  the  natives. 
Indeed,  the  route  of  the  army  might  be  tracked  by  these  em- 
blems of  man's  salvation,  raised  wherever  a  willing  population 
of  Indians  invited  it,  suggesting  a  very  different  idea  from  what 
the  same  memorials  intimate  to  the  traveller  in  these  mountain 
solitudes  in  our  da}-/ 

Tlie  troops  now  entered  a  rugged  defile,  the  Bishop's  Pass,^ 
as  it  is  called,  capable  of  easy  defense  against  an  army.  Verv 
poon  they  ex])eri-"nced  a  most  unwelcome  change  of  clim.aie. 
Cold  winds  from  the  mountains,  mingled  with  rain,  and,  as  they 
rose  stili  higher,  with  driving  sleet  and  hail,  drenched  their 
garn>entp,  and  seemed  to  penetrate  to  their  very  bones.  The 
Sp:tniards,  indeed,  partially  covered  by  their  armor  and  thick 
jackets  of  quilted  cotton,  were  better  able  to  resist  the  weather, 
though  their  long  residence  in  the  sultry  regions  of  the  valley 
made  them  still  keenly  sensible  to  tlie  annoyance.  But  the 
poor  Indians,  natives  of  the  tierra  caliente^  with  little  protectioa 
in  the  way  of  covering,  sunk  under  the  rude  assault  of  the  ele- 
ments, anfl  several  of  them  perished  on  the  road. 

The  aspect  of  the  coimtry  was  as  wild  and  dreat'-  as  the 
climate.     Their  route  wound  along  tliO  spur  of  the   huge  Cofre 

^-  C'viedc,  Hist,  de  la.s  [nd  ,  MS.,  iib.  33,  can.  i. —  Rel.  He^r.  de  Cortes,  ap. 
I.'ir'  iizaiia.  d.  4.'). — ClDinaia,  Cr6ni(:a.  cap,  4.1. — I.\-tlilxochitI,  lii.^t.  Chieh.,  M 
S..  e.M>83.  ' 

•'  l-.vcry  Imndrcd  vards  >A  our  fiii'-."  ."-nvs  i!;e  traveder  last  quoted,  s^ieak- 
IiiL;  '.'i  th:.,  \crv  rijgil  ii,  "was  markiil  i)\  tiie  nvlaricholy  erfction  of  a  wooden 
cr',-x,  dnio' 'iirj,  a(-.-:rir(!in!.j  to  the  rustotii  of  tlic  Ciiuntry,  tlie  coinniission  of 
si.'iir.:  hurribii.  uuircLr  uii  ilie  spot  wlicic  it.  w  ;r;  jdauled."  Travels  in  jVortS 
America,  vol.  II.  ;>.  188. 

'■*  /',  /  paso  del  Obispo.  Cort^s  naineci  it  Puerto  dd  Nombre  de  Diot.  VvUfi, 
ap.  Lorenzaiia,  p.  li. 


%ji  MARCH  TO  :.TEXICO. 

de  Perote,  which  borrows  its  name,  both  in  Mexican  and  Cas- 
tilian,  from  the  coffer-like  rock  on  its  summit.-^^  It  is  one  of  the 
great  volcanoes  of  New  Spain.  It  exhibits  now,  indeed,  no 
vestage  of  a  crater  on  its  top,  but  abundant  traces  of  volcanic 
aetion  at  its  base,  where  acres  of  lava,  blackened  scoriae,  and 
cinders,  proclaim  the  convulsions  of  nature,  while  numerous 
shrubs  and  mouldering  trunks  of  enormous  trees,  among  the 
crevices,  attest  the  antiquity  of  these  events.  Working  their 
toilsome  way  across  this  scene  of  desolation,  the  path  often 
led  them  along  the  borders  of  precipices,  down  whose  sheer 
depths  of  two  or  three  thousand  feet  the  shrinking  eye  might 
behold  another  climate,  and  see  all  the  glowing  vegetation 
of  the  tropics  choking  up  the  bottom  of  the  ravines. 

After  three  days  of  this  fatiguing  travel,  the  way-worn  army 
emerged  through  another  defile,  the  Sierra  del  Agua}^  They 
soon  came  upon  an  open  reach  of  country,  with  a  genial  climate, 
such  as  belongs  to  the  temperate  latitudes  of  southern  Europe. 
They  had  reached  the  level  of  more  than  seven  thousand  feet 
above  the  ocean,  where  the  great  sheet  of  table-land  spreads  out 
for  hundreds  of  miles  along  the  crests  of  the  Cordilleras.  The 
country  showed  signs  of  careful  cultivation,  but  the  products 
were,  for  the  most  part,  not  familiar  to  the  eyes  of  the  Span- 
iards. Fields  and  hedges  of  the  various  tribes  of  the  cactus, 
the  towering  organum,  and  plantations  of  aloes  with  rich  yellow 
clusters  of  flowers  on  their  tall  stems,  affording  drink  and 
clothing  to  the  Aztec,  were  everywhere  seen.  The  plants  of  the 
torrid  and  temperate  zones  had  disappeared,  one  after  another, 
with  the  ascent  into  these  elevated  regions.  The  glossy  and 
dark-leaved  banana,  the  chief,  as  it  is  the  cheapest,  aliment  of 
the  countries  below,  had  long  since  faded  from  the  landscape. 
The  hardy  maize,  however,  still  shone  with  its  golden  harvests 
in  all  the  pride  of  culiivation,  the  great  staple  of  the  higher, 
equally  with  the  lower  terraces  of  the  plateau. 

Suddenly  the  troops  came  upon  what  seemed  the  environs  of 
a  populous  city,  which,  as  they  entered  it.  appeared  to  surpass 
even  that  of  Cempoaila  in  the  size  and  solidity  of  its  structures. 12 

^'^  The  Aztec  name  is  Xauhcampatepetl,  from  nauhcampa,  "any  thing 
square,"  and  tepetl,  "a  mountain." — Humboldt,  who  waded  through  forests 
and  snows  to  its  summit,  ascertained  its  height  to  be  4,089  metres=  13,414 
feet,  above  the  sea.     See  his  Vucs  des  Cordilleres,  ]>,  234,  and  Essai  Politique, 

Tol.    I.   p.    266. 

-'  The  same  mentioned  in  Cortes'  Letter  as  the  Puerto  de  la  Lena.  Viaje, 
ap.  Lorenzana,  p.  iii. 

^*  Now  known  bv  the  euphonious  Indian  name  of  Tlatlauquitepec.  (Viaje, 
ap.  Lorenzana,  p.  iv.)  It  is  the  Cocotlan  of  Bernal  Diaz.  (Hist,  de  la  C'on- 
quista,  cap.  61.)     The  old  Conquerors  made  sorry  work  with  the  Aztec  namet 


THE  SPAXTARDS  CLIMB   THE   TABLE-LAXD. 


-73 


These  were  of  stone  and  lime,  many  of  them  spacious  and  toler- 
ably high.  There  were  thirteen  teocallis  in  the  place  ;  and  in  the 
suburbs  they  had  seen  a  receptacle,  in  which,  according  to  Bernal 
Diaz,  were  stored  a  hundred  thousand  skulls  of  human  victims, 
all  piled  and  ranged  in  order  !  He  reports  the  number  as  one 
he  had  ascertained  by  counting  them  himself.^'^  Whatever  faith 
we  may  attach  to  the  precise  accuracy  of  his  figures,  the  result 
is  almost  equally  startling.  The  Spaniards  were  destined  to  be- 
come familiar  with  this  appalling  spectacle,  as  they  approached 
nearer  to  the  Aztec  capital. 

The  lord  of  the  town  ruled  over  twenty  thousand  vasseis.  He 
was  tributary  to  ^Montezuma,  anti  a  strong  Mexican  garrison  was 
quartered  in  the  place.  He  had  probably  been  advised  of  the 
approach  of  the  Spaniards,  and  doubted  how  far  it  would  be 
welcome  to  his  sovereign.  At  all  events,  he  gave  them  a  cold 
reception,  the  more  unpalatable  after  the  extraordinary  suffer- 
ings of  the  last  few  days.  To  the  inquiry  of  Cortes,  whether  he 
were  subject  to  Montez.uma,  he  answered,  with  real  or  affected 
surprise,  ""Who  is  there  that  is  not  a  vassal  to  Montezuma?  "  i* 
The  general  told  him,  with  some  emphasis,  that  he  was  not. 
He  then  explained  whence  and  why  he  came,  assuring  him  that 
he  served  a  monarch  who  had  princes  for  his  vassals  as  powerful 
as  the  Aztec  monarch  himself. 

The  cacique  in  turn  fell  nothing  shorter  of  tlie  Spaniard,  in 
the  pompous  display  of  the  grandeur  and  resources  of  ilie  Indian 
emperor.  He  told  his  guest  that  Montezuma  could  muster  thirty 
great  vassals,  each  master  of  a  hundred  thousand  men  !  ^^  His 
rex'.-'v.ies  were  immense,  as  every  subiect.  however  ]30or,  paid 
something.  Thev  were  all  expended  on  his  magnilT<x'nt  state, 
and  in  support  of  liis  armies,  The^^e  were  coutinuo'ly  in  the 
field,  while  garrisons  v/ere  maintained  in  mosi  oi'  tlie  large  cities 
of  the  empire.  M'>re  than  twenty  thousand  vii;ums,  the  fruit  of 
his  wars,  v.ere   annually    sacrificed   on   the   altars  of  his  gods  ! 

boft.  of  places  .ind  persons,  for  Hhicli  tlie\  must  be  ulliiwed  '..<-  have  had 
amiilc  ap'ji();_iy. 

''  i'uc^.^.'n  taiUos  rimer;)6  de  c.u;iiit'ras  '.io  miiciLos.  i\\v^  >m  !)i'a!..i.  Liicii  con' 
tar,  >'■  rill  c!  cuncicri')  cdi.  (jwl:  e--ii.iiia!i  pucsUis.  i;ue  in;:  p-iin;  c  mc-  erau  mas 
clc  '::■;:!  iiiii,  y  tl;'j,o  on  i  ■•:<■■/.  s"';i"C:  ri'-ii  lui!.""       ll'ii..  iil-i  Mipru. 

'■*  "  I'^l  !;ii:!.l  <.:\>\  a; iniiiud' >  ('o  io  <\\vc  ic  [jicL untah.;  iiic  K  >p.)ii  !i6,  dicioudo  J 
I  ,•.'■  '  I  U:'-n  iiK  era  v,i,-aih)  dc  .\iii<  Lt:/iiii!:i  :  'ju<-!  Jlikk)  (ici.^r,  i(inJ  aiii  era  Sciior 
i\'-.  M;i, '■;.'.'"      ';ci.  Si;:'    (!.j  C'lni;.-,  ui).  ! ..  .M::i/:ana.  p.  .j/. 

'''  "'I'l-iij  Ilia,  dc  30  I'ri'/.  i'-.  a  si  ,  :!!  >ii:<.los,  iinc  cada  iiiu)  dellos  ticne 
(j'-i:t  ni::!  l-Jtiihics  (■  mas  d  ;j'  :■  :i.'  (i  )\\i:C\.,,  liist.  de  las  Iiid.,  MS.,  lib.  ^33, 
ca|,'.  I  )  I  \\.;  in  u  vcilmi^  Uii  ;,  ci.i.-,,  r^'pcatcd  by  more  than  one  Spanish 
wr;;  :r,  in  tlicir  accomil.T  of  the  A/.r  c  moa.trchv,  not  as  the  assertion  of  tlii* 
cliief,  but  as  a  vcritalile  piece  c<f  siatisnrs.  Si-e  among  otliers,  Hcrrera,  \\\aX, 
General,  dec.  2,  lib.  7,  cap.  12. — Suit's,  Conqmista,  lib,  3,  cap.  16. 


374  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

His  capital  iie  cacique  said,  stood  in  a  lake,  in  the  centre  of  a 
spacious  valley.  The  lake  was  commanded  by  the  emperor's 
vessels,  and  the  approach  to  the  city  was  by  means  of  cause- 
ways, several  miles  long,  connected  in  parts  by  wooden  bridges, 
which,  when  raised,  cut  off  all  communication  with  the  country. 
Some  other  things  he  added,  in  answer  to  queries  of  his  guest, 
in  which,  as  the  reader  may  imagine,  the  crafty,  or  credulous 
cacique  varnished  over  the  truth  with  a  lively  coloring  of  ro- 
mance. Whether  romance,  or  reality,  the  Spaniards  could  not 
determine.  The  particulars  they  gleaned  were  not  of  a  kind  to 
tranquillize  their  minds,  and  might  well  have  made  bolder 
hearts  than  theirs  pause,  ere  they  advanced.  But  far  from  it. 
"  The  words  which  we  heard,"  says  the  stout  old  cavalier,  so 
often  quoted,  "however  they  may  have  filled  us  with  wonder, 
made  us  —  such  is  the  temper  of  the  Spaniard  —  only  the  more 
earnest  to  prove  the  adventure,  desperate  as  it  might  appear."  ^ 

In  a  further  conversation  Cortes  inquired  of  the  chief,  whether 
his  country  abounded  in  gold,  and  intimated  a  desire  to  take 
home  some,  as  specimens  to  his  sovereign.  But  the  Indian  lord 
declined  to  give  him  any,  saying  it  might  displease  Montezuma. 
"  Should  he  command  it,"  he  added,  "  my  gold,  my  person,  and 
all  I  possess,  shall  be  at  your  disposal."  The  general  did  not 
press  the  matter  further. 

The  curiosity  of  the  natives  was  naturally  excited  by  the 
strange  dresses,  weapons,  horses  and  dogs  of  the  Spaniards. 
Marina,  in  satisfying  their  inquiries,  took  occasion  to  magnify 
the  prowess  of  her  adopted  countrymen,  expatiating  on  their 
exploits  and  victories,  and  stating  the  extraordinary  marks  of  re- 
spect they  had  received  from  Montezuma.  This  intelligence 
seemed  to  have  had  its  effect :  for  soon  after,  the  cacique  gave 
the  general  some  curious  trinkets  of  gold,  of  no  great  value,  in- 
deed, but  as  a  testimony  of  his  good-will.  He  sent  him,  also, 
some  female  slaves  to  prepare  bread  for  the  troops,  and  supplied 
the  means  of  refreshment  and  repose,  more  important  to  them, 
in  the  present  juncture,  than  all  the  gold  of  Mexico, ^^ 

The  Spanish  general,  as  usual,  did  not  neglect  the  occasion 
to  inculcate  the  great  truths  of  revelation  on  his  host,  and  to  dis- 
play the  atrocity  of  the  Indian  superstitions.  The  cacique  liste'v 
ed  with    civil,  but  cold    indifference.     Cone's,  finding  him  un- 

!■'  Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  6i, 

There  is  a  slight  ground-swell  of  glorification  in  the  Captain's  narrati-.-e, 
which  may  provoke  a  smile,  not  a  sneer,  for  it  is  mingled  with  too  much  !*ji! 
courag  and  simplicity    of  character. 

1"  For  the  ]jrcceding  pages,  besides  authorities  cited  in  course,  see  Peter 
Martyr,  De  Orbe  Novo,  dec.  5,  cap,  i, — Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist,  Chich. ,  MS.,  cap, 
83, — Gomara,  Cronica,  cap,  44, — Torquemada,  Monarch,  Ind.,  lib.  4,  cap.  26* 


PICTURESQUE  SCENERY.  275 

moved,  turned  briskly  round  to  his  soldiers,  exclaiming  that  now 
was  the  time  to  plant  the  Cross,  They  eagerly  seconded  his 
pious  purpose,  and  the  same  scenes  might  have  been  enacted  a3 
at  Cempoalla,  with,  perhaps,  very  different  results,  had  not  father 
Olmedo,  with  better  judgment,  interposed.  He  represented  that 
to  introduce  the  Cross  among  the  natives,  in  their  present  state 
of  ignorance  and  incredulity,  would  be  to  expose  the  sacred 
symbol  to  desecration,  so  soon  as  the  backs  of  the  Spaniards 
were  turned.  The  only  way  was  to  wait  patiently  the  season 
when  more  leisure  should  be  atforded  to  instil  into  their  minds 
a  knowledge  of  the  truth.  The  sober  reasoning  of  the  good 
father  prevailed  over  the  passions  of  the  martial  enthusiasts. 

It  was  fortunate  for  Cortes  that  Ohiiedo  was  not  one  of  those 
frantic  friars,  who  would  have  fanned  his  fiery  temper  on  such 
occasions  into  a  blaze.  It  might  have  had  a  most  disastrous  in- 
fluence on  his  fortunes ;  for  he  held  all  temporal  consequences 
light  in  comparison  with  the  great  work  of  conversion,  to  effect 
which  the  unscrupulous  mind  of  the  soldier,  trained  to  the  sterii 
discipline  of  the  camp,  would  have  employed  force,  whenever 
fair  means  were  ineffectual.-''*  But  Olmedo  belonged  to  that  class, 
of  benevolent  missionaries — of  whom  the  Roman  Catholic  church 
to  its  credit,  has  furnished  many  examples  —  who  rely  on  spirit- 
ual weapons  for  the  great  work,  inculcating  those  doctrines  of 
love  and  mercy  which  can  best  touch  the  sensibilities  and  win 
the  affections  of  their  rude  audience.  These,  indeed,  are  the 
true  weapons  of  the  Church,  the  weapons  employed  in  the  prin:- 
itive  ages,  by  which  it  has  spread  its  peaceful  banners  over  the 
farthest  regions  ot  the  globe.  Such  were  not  the  means  used  by 
the  conquerors  of  America,  who,  rather  adopting  the  policy  of 
the  victorious  Moslems  in  their  early  career,  carried  with  them 
the  sword  in  one  hand  and  the  Bible  in  the  other.  They  im- 
posed obedience  in  matters  of  faith,  no  less  than  of  government, 
on  the  vanquished,  little  heeding  whether  the  conversion  were 
genuine,  so  that  it  conformed  to  the  outward  observances  of  the 
Church,  Yet  the  seeds  thus  recklessly  scattered  must  have  per- 
ished but  for  the  missionaries  of  their  own  nation,  who,  in  later 
times,  worked  over  the  same  ground,  living  among  tlie  Indians 
as  brethren,  and,  by  long  and  patient  culture,  enabling  the 
germs  of  truth  to  take  root  and  fructify  in  their   hearts. 

The  Spanish  commander  remained  in  the  city  four  or  five  days 

*•  The  general  clearly  belonged  to  the  cliurcli  militant,  mentioned  by  Butler 

"  Such  as  do  Ijuild  their  faith  upon 
The  lioly  text  of  pike  and  pun  ; 
And  prove  their  doctrines  orthodoi 
By  aposlulic  blows  and  kuock*." 


J76  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

to  recruit  his  fatigued  and  famished  forces ;  and  the  modern  In- 
dians  still  point  out,  or  did  at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  a 
venerable  cypress,  under  the  branches  of  which  was  tied  the 
horse  of  the  Conquistador.,  — the  Conqueror,  as  Cortes  was  styled, 
par  excellence}^  Their  route  now  opened  on  a  broad  and  verdant 
valley,  watered  by  a  noble  stream,  —  a  circumstance  of  not  too 
frequent  occurrence  on  the  parched  table-land  of  New  Spain. 
The  soil  was  well  protected  by  woods,  a  thing  stil  rarer  at  the 
present  day  \  since  the  invaders,  soon  after  the  Conquest,  swept 
away  the  magnificent  growth  of  timber,  rivalling  that  of  our 
Southern  and  Western  States  in  variety  and  beauty,  which  covered 
the  plateau  under  the  Aztecs.'-* 

All  along  the  river,  on  both  sides  of  it,  an  unbroken  line  of 
Indian  dwellings,  "  so  near  as  almost  to  touch  one  another,"  ex- 
tended for  three  or  four  leagues  ;  arguing  a  population  much 
denser  than  at  present.'-^  On  a  rough  and  rising  ground  stood  a 
town,  that  might  contain  five  or  six  thousand  inhabitants,  com- 
manded bv  a  fortress,  which,  with  its  walls  and  trenches,  seemed  to 
the  Spaniards  quite  "on  a  level  wirh  similar  works  in  Europe.'' 
Here  the  troops  again  halted,  and  met  with  friendly  treatment.^ 

Corte's  now  determined  his  future  line  of  march.  At  the  last 
place  he  had  been  counselled  by  the  natives  to  take  the  route  of 
the  ancient  city  of  Choiula,  the  mhaoitants  of  which,  subjects  of 
Montezum.a,  were  a  miid  race,  devoted  to  mechanical  and  other 
peaceful  arts,  and  would  be  likely  to  entertain  him  kindly.  Their 
Cempcallan  allies,  ho\vevur,  advised  the  Spaniards  not  to  trust 
?he  Chol'iL^ns.  "a  false  and  perfidious  people."  but  to  take  the 
road  to  Thiscala.  that  valiant  little  republic,  which  had  so  long 

'"  "  Aibol  grand",  dicho  «/;«c'vv.-V^.''  (Viaje,  np.  I.orenzana,  p.  iii.)  The 
c'ar'-?ss!'.s  disticl'a  <A  Linnaeus.  See  Humboldt,  Es^ru  Politique,  torn.  II.  p. 
54,  n'.tc. 

-  It  is  the  same  tasre  which  has  made  the  Castiles,  the  table-iaivi  of  the 
pLii  .isala,  so  naked  of  wood.  Pruder.'Ja]  seasons,  as  well  as  taste,  however, 
secr.i  :o  have  operated  in  New  S]ja;n.  A  friend  of  mine  on  a  visit  to  a 
noble  hiiikud-i,  but  unrorimonly  liarren  of  trees,  was  informed  by  the  prc>- 
prietor  that  thev  were  cut  down  ro  prevent  the  la.zv  Iiidians  on  trie  plantation 
from  wasiing  tiieir  time  by  loitering  in  their  sliade  ! 

^  It  confirms  the  observations  of  M.  de  Humboldt.  ''  Sans  lioute  lors  de 
]a  ijremiere  arrivJedes  Esnagnols.  toute  cettecott,.  dci)uis  la  riviere  de  I'apai- 
Gai.-an  (Alvara  r.)  jnsrjue'a  Kuaxtccapan,  etait  p!u>  habitee  et  mieux  cultivee 
qu'eile  ne  Tc^r  aujourd'hui.  Cependant  a  mesure  que  les  conquerans  mon- 
terentau  plaieau,  iis  trouverent  les  villages  pins  rapproches  les  uns  des  autres, 
ie.->  .!;.imps  divises  en  portions  plus  petites,  le  peupie  plus  police'."  Humboldt, 
E-^'i'  P')]itiqne,  torn.  II.  p.  202. 

--  liv  r  'rrect  inriian  name  of  t'.c  town,  '.'xfiicam.ixf'tldn,  Vzlicmastitan (A 
CortC's,  will  hardlv  be  recognized  in  the  Xalacingo  of  Diaz.  The  town  was  re- 
moved, in  i6"i.  from  the  top  of  the  hill  to  the  plain.  On  theoriginal  siic  a-'! 
sti'l  visible  r^  ir.:;'],-;  (.f  carved,  stones  of  large  dimension^,  attesting  tl-f  -legance 
oi  tiic  ancient  foiiic-is  or  palace  of  the  cacique.     Viaje,  ap.  Lorenzana,  p*  '/. 


TRAA/SACTIOA'S  WITH  THE  NATIVES. 


277 


maintained  its  independence  against  the  arms  of  Mexico.  The 
people  were  frank  as  they  were  fearless,  and  fair  in  their  deal- 
ings. They  had  always  been  on  terms  of  amity  with  the  Toto- 
macs,  which  afforded  a  strong  guaranty  for  their  amicable  dis- 
position on  the  present  occasion. 

The  arguments  of  his  Indian  allies  prevailed  with  the  Spanish 
commander,  who  resolved  to  propitiate  the  good-will  of  the 
Tlascalans  by  an  embassy.  He  selected  four  of  the  principal 
Cempoallans  for  this,  and  sent  by  them  a  martial  gift, — a  cap  of 
crimson  cloth,  together  with  a  sword  and  a  crossbow,  weapons  which 
it  was  observed,  excited  general  admiration  among  the  natives. 
He  added  a  letter,  in  which  he  asked  permission  to  pass  through 
their  country.  He  expressed  his  admiration  of  the  valor  of  the 
Tlascalans,  and  of  their  long  resistance  to  the  Aztecs,  whose 
proud  empire  he  designed  to  humble,^  It  was  not  to  be  expected 
that  this  epistle,  indited  in  good  Castilian,  would  be  very  intel- 
ligible to  the  Tlascalans.  But  Corte's  communicated  its  import 
to  the  ambassadors.  Its  mysterious  characters  might  impress 
the  natives  with  an  idea  of  superior  intelligence,  and  the  letter 
serve  instead  of  these  hieroglyphical  missives  which  formed  the 
usual  credentials  of  an  Indian  ambassador.** 

The  Spaniards  remained  three  days  in  this  hospitable  place, 
after  the  departure  of  the  envoys,  when  they  resumed  their  prog- 
ress. Although  in  a  friendly  country,  they  marched  always  as 
if  in  a  land  of  enemies,  the  horse  and  light  troops  in  the  van, 
with  the  heavy-armed  and  baggage  in  the  rear,  all  in  battle  array. 

They  were  never  without  their  armor,  waking  or  sleeping, 
lying  down  with  their  weapons  by  their  sides.  This  unintermit- 
ting  and  restless  vigilance  was,  perhaps,  more  oppressive  to  the 
spirits  than  even  bodily  fatigue.  But  they  were  confident  in  their 
superiority  in  a  fair  field,  and  felt  that  the  most  serious  danger 
they  had  to  fear  from  Indian  warfare  was  surprise.  ''  We  are 
few  against  many,  brave  companions,"  Cortds  would  say  to  them  , 
"  be  prepared,  then,  not  as  if  you  was  going  to  battle,  but  as  if 
actually  in  the  midst  of  it  !"^ 

The  road  taken  by  the  Spaniards  was  the  same  which  at  pres- 
ent leads    to    Tlascala ;  not    that,  however,  usually  followed  in 

*^  ''  Estas  cosas  y  otras  de  gran  pcrsuasi'Mi  contentia  la  carta,  perocomo  na 
gabian  leer  no  pudie'ron  entender  lo  (juc  cuntenia."  Camargo,  Hist,  dc  Tlas- 
.-^la,  MS. 

^  For  an  account  of  the  diplomatic  usages  of  the  people  of  Anahuac,  sec 
Ante,  p.  44. 

'^  "  Mira,  sei^ores  comi)anero,s,  ya  veis  (jue  somos  pocos,  hcnios  de  cstar 
siempre  tan  apercehirlos,  y  apaiejados,  como  si  aora  viessenios  venir  las  coo-. 
trarios  a  pelear,  v  no  soliinicntf  vellos  venir,  sino  hazer  cuenta  cjue  estaniaB 
ya  en  la  batalla  coii  cllus."      licnuil  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquiata,  cap.  62. 


ayS  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

passing  from  Vera  Cruz  to  the  capital,  which  makes  a  circuit  coiv 
siderably  to  the  south,  towards  Puebla,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  ancient  Cholula.  They  more  than  once  forded  the  stream 
that  rolls  through  this  beautiful  plain,  lingering  several  days  on 
the  way,  in  hopes  of  receiving  an  answer  from  the  Indian  repub- 
lic. The  unexpected  delay  of  the  messengers  could  not  be  ex- 
plained, and  occasioned  some  uneasiness. 

As  they  advanced  into  a  country  of  rougher  and  bolder  feat- 
ures, their  progress  was  suddenly  arrested  by  a  remarkable  forti- 
ficaiion.  It  was  a  stone  wall  nine  feet  in  height,  and  twenty  in 
thickness,  with  a  parapet,  a  foot  and  a  half  broad,  raised  on  the 
summit  for  the  protection  of  those  who  defended  it.  It  had  only 
one  opening,  in  the  centre,  made  by  two  semicircular  lines  of 
wall  overlapping  each  other  for  the  space  of  forty  paces,  and 
ttft'ording  a  passage-way  between,  ten  paces  wide,  so  contrived 
therefore,  as  to  be  perfectly  commanded  by  the  inner  wall.  This 
fortification,  which  extended  more  than  two  leagues,  rested  at 
either  end  on  the  bold  natural  buttresses  formed  by  the  sierra. 
The  work  was  built  of  immense  blocks  of  stones  nicely  laid  to» 
gether  without  cement ;  ^  and  the  remains  still  existing,  among 
which  are  rocks  of  the  whole  breadth  of  the  rampart,  fully  attest 
its  solidity  and  size.^' 

This  singular  structure  marked  the  limits  of  Tlascala,  and 
was  intended,  as  the  natives  told  tlie  Spaniards,  as  a  barrier 
against  the  Mexican  invasions.  The  army  paused,  filled  with 
amazement  at  the  contemplation  of  this  Cyclopean  monument, 
which  naturally  suggested  reflections  on  the  strength  and  re- 
sources of  the  people  who  had  raised  it.  It  caused  them,  too, 
some  painful  solicitude  as  to  the  probable  result  of  their,mission 
to  Talasca,  and  their  own  consequent  reception  there.  But  they 
were  loo  sanguine  to  allow  suclr  uncomfortable  surmises  long  to 
dwell  in  their  minds.  Cones  put  himself  at  the  head  of  his 
cavalry,  and  calling  out,  "  Forward,  soldiers,  the  Holy  Cross  is 
our  banner,  and  under  that  we  shall  conquer,"  led  his  little  army 
through  the  undefended  passage,  and  in  a  few  moments  they 
trod  the  soil  of  the  free  republic  of  Tlascala.-' 

*'  According  to  the  writer  last  cited,  the  stones  were  held  by  a  cement  so 

h;ud  that  the  men  could  scarcely  break  it  with  their  pikes.  (Hist,  de  la  Con- 
(juista,  cap.  62.)  But  the  contrary  statement,  in  the  general's  letter  is  coiv 
firmed  by  the  present  appearance  of  the  wall.     Viaje,  ap.  Lore.izana,  p.  vii. 

•'  Viaje,  ap.  Lorenzaiia,  p.  vii. 

"I'ne  attempts  of  the  Archbishop  to  identify  the  route  of  Corlds  have  been 
vf-rv  successful.  It  is  a  [lity,  that  his  map  illustrating  the  itinerary  should  be 
iio  wortiiless. 

'^-  Camarqo,  Hist,  de  Tlascala,  MS — Gomara,  Cronica,  cap.  44,  45— Ixtlil 
xochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap,  83. — Hcrrera,  Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib  6, 
cap.  3.— Ovicdo.  liist.  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  -^ii,  cap.  2. — Peter  Martyr,  De 
0:1)€  Novo.  flc'-.  <;,  c'.j.u   i 


REPUBLIC  OF  TLASCALA.  279 


CHAPTER  II. 

Republic  of  Tlascala. — Its  Institutions. — Early  History.—. 
Discussions  in  the  Senate. — Desperate  Battles. 

Before  advancing  further  with  the  Spaniards  into  the  territory 
of  Tlascala,  it  will  be  well  to  notice  some  traits  in  the  character 
and  institutions  of  the  nation,  in  many  respects,  the  most  re- 
markable in  Anahuac.  The  Tlascalans  belong  to  the  same  great 
family  with  the  Aztecs.i  They  came  on  the  grand  plateau  about 
the  same  time  with  the  kindred  races,  at  the  close  of  the  twelfth 
century,  and  planted  themselves  on  the  western  borders  of  the 
lake  of  Tezcuco.  Here  they  remained  many  years  engaged  in 
the  usual  pursuits  of  a  bold  and  partially' civilized  people.  From 
some  cause  or  other,  perhaps  their  turbulent  temper,  they  incur- 
red the  enmity  of  surrounding  tribes.  A  coalition  was  formed 
against  them  ;  and  a  bloody  battle  was  fought  on  the  plains  of 
Poyauhtlan,  in  which  the  Tlascalans  were  completely  victorious. 

Disgusted,  however,  with  their  residence  among  nations  with 
whom  they  found  so  little  favor,  the  conquering  people  resolved 
to  migrate.  They  separated  into  three  divisions,  the  largest  of 
which,  taking  a  southern  course  by  the  great  volcan  of  Mexico, 
wound  round  the  ancient  city  of  Cholula,  and  finally  settled  in 
the  district  of  country  overshadowed  by  the  sierra  of  Tlascala. 
The  warm  and  fruitful  valleys,  locked  up  in  the  embraces  of 
this  rugged  brotherhood  of  mountains,  afforded  means  of  sub- 
sistence for  an  agricultural  people,  while  the  bold  eminences  of 
the  sierra  presented  secure  positions  for  their  towns. 

After  the  lapse  of  years,  the  institutions  of  the  nation  under- 
went an  important  change.  The  monarchy  was  divided  first 
into  two,  afterwards  into  four  separate  states,  bound  together  by 

'  The  Indian  ciironicler,  Camargo,  considers  liis  nation  a  branch  of  the 
Chichemec.  (Hist,  de  Tlascala,  MS. )  So,  also,  Torquemada.  (Monarch. 
Ind.,  lib.  3,  cap.  9.)  Claviergo,  wlio  has  carefully  investigated  the  antiquitiet 
of  Anahuac,  calls  it  one  of  the  seven  N'ahiiatlac  tribes.  (Stor.  del  Messico, 
torn.  I.  p,  153,  nota. )  The  fact  is  not  of  great  moment,  since  they  were  all 
cognate  races,  spv,,.king  the  same  tongue,  and  probably,  migrated  from  thci* 
country  in  the  far  ..Surth  at  nearly  the  same  time. 


2«o  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

a   sort   of  fed-:  a'    compact,    probably  not   very  nicely   defined. 

Each  state,  ii^wc/er,  had  its  lord  or  supreme  chief,  independent 
in  his  own  territories,  and  possessed  of  coordinate  authority 
with  the  others  in  all  matters  concerning  the  whole  republic. 
The  ailairs  of  government,  especially  all  those  relating  to  peace 
and  war,  were  settled  in  a  senate  or  council,  cousisung  of  the 
four  lords  with  their  inferior  nobles. 

The  lower  dignitaries  held  of  the  superior,  each  in  his  own 
district,  bv  a  kind  of  feudal  tenure,  being  bound  to  supply  his 
table,  ana  enable  him  to  maintain  his  state  in  peace,  as  we'll  as 
to  serve  him  in  war.^  In  return,  he  experienced  the  aid  and 
protection  of  his  suzerain.  The  same  mutual  obligation  existed 
between  him  and  the  followers  among  whom  his  own  territories 
were  distributed.^  Thus  a  chain  of  feudal  dependencies  was 
established,  which,  if  not  contrived  with  all  the  art  and  legal 
renneraeiits  of  analogous  institutions  in  the  Old  World,  displayed 
their  mo^^t  prominent  characteristics  in  its  personal  relations, 
the  obiigaiiuns  of  military  service  on  the  one  hand,  and  pro- 
tection on  the  other.  This  form  of  government,  so  different 
from  that  of  the  surrounding-  nations,  subsisted  till  the  arrival 
of  the  Sjjaniards.  And  it  is  certainly  evidence  of  considerable 
civilization,  that  so  complex  a  polity  should  have  so  long  con- 
tinued, undisturbed  by  violence  or  faction  in  the  confederate 
states,  and  should  have  been  found  competent  to  protect  the 
people  in  their  rights,  and  the  country  from  foreign  in- 
vasion. 

The  lowest  order  of  the  people,  however,  do  not  seem  to  have 
enjoyed  higher  inimunities  than  under  the  monarchical  govern- 
ment; and  their  rank  was  carefully  defined  by  an   appropriate 

^  The  desccn'iants  of  these  petty  nobles  attached  as  great  value  to  their 
pedi:>Tees,  as  any  ]5iscayan  or  Asturian  in  Old  Spain.  Long  after  the  Con- 
quest, tlit-y  refused,  however  needy,  to  dishonor  their  birth  by  resorting  to 
mecirinical  or  (jiii'.r  ]jlel>';iaii  occupaiioiis,  of.cics  viles y  bojos.  "  Los  descendi- 
entes  de  estos  son  estirnp.dos  \n)\  hombres  calificados,  que  auncjue  sc;v.i  pro- 
brisinios  nci  u-aii  ofiiic'S  niecanicos  ni  tratos  bajos  ni  viles,  ni  jamas  se 
permitcn  cargar  ni  caljar  con  coas  y  azadones,  dicicndo  que  son 
hijos  LJalgos  enque  no  han  de  aplicarse  .d  estas  cosas  soeces  y  bajas, 
Bino  servir  en  guerras  y  fronteras,  conio  Idalgos,  y  morir  con.j  hombres 
pelcardo."     Camargo,  Hist,  de  Tiascala,  IMS. 

^  "  C'ualquier  Tecuhtli  que  fornialja  un  Tccalli,  que  es  casa  de  Mayorazgo, 
totla.,  acjuelias  tie. -rah  cjue  Ic  caiaii  en  suerle  de  rcpartiniienlo,  con  montes, 
fuentes,  rios.  o  lagunas  tomase  para  la  casa  principal  la  mavor  y  mejor  suerte 
6  pa.Tos  de  tierra  v  hiego  las  demas  que  Cjuedaban  se  partian  i:ior  sus  solda- 
dos  arnigos  y  parientes,  igualmenle,  y  todos  estos  estan  obligados  a  reconocer 
la  casa^ mayor  y  acudir  a  clla  a  alzarla  y  repararla.  y  a  ser  continuos  en  reco- 
nocer a  clla  de  aves.  caza.  (lores,  y  ramos  para  el  sustento  de  la  casa  del 
Mayorazgo,  y  cl  que  lo  es  esta  obligado  a  sustentarlos  y  regalarlos  como 
amigos  de  aquella  casa  y  parientes  de  eDa."    Ibid.,  MS. 


ITS  TxsTrrrrioxs.  281 

dress,  and  by  their  exclusion  from  the  insignia  of  the  aristocratic 

orders.* 

The  nation,  agricultural  in  its  habits,  reserved  its  highes*: 
honors,  like  most  othier  rude — unhappily  also,  civilized — nations, 
for  military  prowess.  Public  games  were  instituted,  and  prizes 
decreed  to  those  who  excelled  in  such  manly  and  athletic 
exercises,  as  might  train  them  for  the  fatigues  of  war.  Triumphs 
were  granted  to  the  victorious  general,  who  entered  the  city, 
leading  his  spoils  and  captives  in  long  procession,  while  his 
achievements  were  conmiemorated  in  national  songs,  and  his 
effigy,  whether  in  wood  or  stone,  was  erecied  in  the  temples. 
It  was  truly  in  the  mariial  spirit  of  repubiican  Rome." 

An  institution  not  unlike  knighthood  was  introduced,  very 
similar  to  one  exis:ing  also  among  the  Aztecs,  The  aspirant  to 
the  honors  of  this  barbaric  chivalry  watched  his  arms  and 
fasted  fifty  or  sixty  days  in  the  temple,  then  listened  to  a  grave 
discourse  on  the  duties  of  his  new  profession.  Various  whim- 
sical ceremonies  followed,  when  his  arms  were  restored  to  him  \ 
he  was  led  in  solemn  procession  through  the  public  streets,  and 
the  inauguration  was  concluded  by  banquets  and  public  rejoic- 
ings.— The  new  knight  was  distinguished  henceforth  by  certain 
peculiar  piivileges,  as  well  as  by  a  badge  intimating  his  rank. 
It  is  worthy  of  remark,  tk.at  this  honor  was  not  reserved  exclu- 
sively for  militarv  merit ;  but  was  the  recompense,  also,  01  public 
services  of  oilier  kinds,  as  wisdom  in  council,  or  sagacity  and 
success  in  trade.  For  trade  was  held  in  as  high  estimation  by 
th"  Tlascalans,  as  bv  the  other  people  of  Anahuac,'"' 

T;:e  temperate  climate  of  the  table-land  furnished  tiie  ready 
inea'!S  for  distant  trattic.  The  frnitfuiness  of  the  scii  was  indi- 
cated bv  liie  name  of  the  country, —  Tlascaia  si'-nitvinp;  the 
'■  land  of  bread.'  its  wide  •plains,  to  the  slopes  of  iis  rocky  hills, 
wa'.'ed  with  \eliow  harvests  of  maize,  and  with  the  bouniiful 
magiiey.  a  plant,  wlvich.  as  v.e  have  seen,  supplied  the  matciials 
for  soiVie  important  fabrics.  Wiih  these,  as  well  as  the  products 
of  agricultural  industrv.  tlie  merchant  foimd  his  wav  down  the 
sides  of  the   Cordilii  ra^,  wandered  over  the    sunny   icgions    at 

■»  Caiuar^;'),  Hist,  (it;  Tiascilri.  A'lS. 

•'  '■!.'><  ;iran<l-.:s  r':',iijinuLutf'>  '.'.w-  harinii  ;'  'us  i  a!.)!taiios  .'ii'.e  venian  y 
alc.iii/a'  an  victoria  en  ia.i  uucrra-.  la-  ii(■-.la^  \'  .  i  ili'nii'.a(lcs  i<iii  i  uf  sc  S(.)len- 
izal^i-i  1  wvAVX'i  I'lj  triiiiif  ).  ;i;'-  !■•-  mrtviii  vi.  ,.:"',"■-.  er.  -.-•\  !'"ir"i  '.a.  travcndo 
rori>::."i  .i  ios  veiicidos  ;  v  jmr  ct'jrtiiznr  sii<  hri/afias  se  las  cmtahan  publica- 
triL-ii!:-.  vaii-i  ';ii:-(iahan  riicnioradas  v  i 'jii  tJ^latila.l  cim.-i.'s  I'nnian  eii  Ios 
teriir-l^h."     H.i''..  MS. 

*■'  l'''ir  tlv;  wlinlr  (  cremony  of  jiaui'tiration, — tiioiirh  as  it  seems  having 
espcciai  reference  lo  the  meTcti.oii  knights, — see  Af^endix,  Pa^t  2,  No.  9, 
jrhere  tlie  original  i.s  given  from  'Jamargo. 


2^2  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

their  base,  and  brought  back  the  luxuries  which  nature  had 
denied  to  his  ownj 

The  various  arts  of  civilization  kept  pace  with  increasing 
wealth  and  public  prosperity ;  at  least,  these  arts  were  cultivated 
to  the  same  limited  extent,  apparently,  as  among  the  other 
people  of  Anahuac.  The  Tlascalan  tongue,  says  the  national 
historian,  simple  as  beseemed  that  of  a  mountain  region,  was 
rough  compared  with  the  polished  Tezcucan,  or  the  popular 
Aztec  dialect,  and,  therefore,  not  so  well  fitted  for  composition. 
But  they  made  like  proficiency  with  the  kindred  nations  in  the 
rudiments  of  science.  Their  calendar  was  formed  on  the  same 
plan.  Their  religion,  their  architecture,  many  of  their  laws 
and  social  usages  were  the  same,  arguing  a  common  origin  for 
all.  Their  tutelary  deity  was  the  same  ferocious  war-god  as 
that  of  the  Aztecs,  though  with  a  different  name  ;  their  temples, 
in  like  manner,  were  drenched  with  the  blood  of  human  victims, 
and  their  boards  groaned  with  the  same  cannibal  repasts.^ 

Though  not  ambitious  of  foreign  conquest,  the  prosperity  of 
the  Tlascalans,  in  time,  excited  the  jealousy  of  their  neighbors, 
and  especially  of  the  opulent  state  of  Cholula.  Frequent  hostil- 
ities arose  between  them,  in  which  the  advantage  was  almost 
always  on  the  side  of  the  former.  A  still  more  formidable  foe 
appeared  in  later  days  in  the  Aztecs  ;  who  could  ill  brook  the 
independence  of  Tlascala,  when  the  surrounding  nations  had 
acknowledged,  one  after  another,  their  influence,  or  their  em- 
pire. Under  the  ambitious  Axayacatl,  they  demanded  of  the 
Tlascalans  the  same  tribute  and  obedience  rendered  by  other 
people  of  the  country.  If  it  were  refused,  the  Aztecs  would 
raze  their  cities  to  their  foundations,  and  deliver  the  land  to 
their  enemies. 

To  this  imperious  summons,  the  little  republic  proudly  re- 
plied, "  Neither  they  nor  their  ancestors  had  ever  paid  tribute 
or  homage  to  a  foreign  power,  and  never  would  pay  it.  If 
their  country  was  invaded,  thay  knew  how  to  defend  it,  and 
would  pour  out  their  blood  as  freely  in  defence  of  their  freedom 
now,  as  their  fathers  did  of  yore,  when  they  routed  the  Aztecs 
•n  the  plains  of  Poyauhtlan  1  "  ^ 

'  "  Ha  bel  paese,"  says  the  Anonymous  Conqueror,  speaking  of  Tlascala, 
at  the  time  of  the  invasion,  "  di  pianure  et  motagne,  et  e  ]5rovincia  popolosa 
et  vi  si  raccoglie  molto  pane."  Rel.  d'  un  gent.,  ap.  Ramusio,  tom.  III. 
p.  308. 

**  A  full  account  of  the  manners,  customs,  and  domestic  policy  of  Tlascala 
is  given  by  the  national  historian,  throwing  much  light  on  the  other  states  of 
Anahuac,  wh»se  social  institutions  seem  to  have  been  all  cast  in  the  snine 
mould. 

*  Camargo,  Hist,  de  Tlascala,  MS. — Torquemada,  Monarch.  lad.,  iib 
1.  cap.  70. 


EA  RL  Y  HIS  TOR  V.  283 

This  resolute  answer  brought  on  them  the  forces  of  the  mon- 
archy. A  pitched  battle  followed,  and  the  sturdy  repubhcans 
were  victorious.  From  this  period,  hostilities  between  the  two 
nations  continued  with  more  or  less  activity,  but  with  unsparing 
ferocity.  Every  captive  was  mercilessly  sacriliced.  The  children 
were  trained  from  the  cradle  to  deadly  hatred  against  the  Mexi- 
cans ;  and,  even  in  the  brief  intervals  of  war,  none  of  those  in' 
termarriagcs  took  place  between  the  people  of  the  respective 
countries,  which  knit  together  in  social  bonds  most  of  the  other 
kindred  races  of  Anahuac. 

In  this  struggle,  the  Tlascalans,  received  an  important  support 
in  the  accession  of  the  Othomis,  or  Otomies, — as  usually  spelt 
bv  Castilian  writers — a  wild  and  warlike  race  originally  spread 
over  the  table-land  north  of  the  Mexican  valley.  A  portion  of 
them  obtained  a  settlement  in  the  republic,  and  were  speedily 
incorporated  in  its  armies.  Their  courage  and  fidelity  to  the 
nation  of  their  adoption  showed  them  worthy  of  trust,  and  the 
frontier  places  were  consigned  to  their  keeping.  The  mountain 
barriers,  by  which  Tlascala  is  encompassed,  afforded  many  strong 
natural  positions  for  defence  against  invasion.  Tiie  country 
was  open  toward  the  east,  where  a  valley,  of  some  six  m.iies  in 
breadth,  invited  the  approach  of  an  enemy.  But  here  it  was, 
that  the  jealous  Tlascalans  erected  the  formidable  rampart  which 
h'ld  e^'citcfl  the  admiration  of  the  Spaniards,  and  which  they 
mannt^d  with  the  garrison  of  Otomies. 

h'.rfijr: s  for  their  subjugation  were  renewed  on  a  greater  scale, 
aftr'-  the  accession  of  Montezuma,  liis  viciorions  arms  had 
snr-  id  d^v/n  the  declivities:  of  the  And.'s  to  the  distant  ])rovinces 
o!  \'fra  Paz  and  Nicaragnn/-'  and  his  haughty  spirit  was  chafed 
bv  tiie  oppositi^m  of  a  p(;tty  state,  whose  territorial  extent  did 
not  exceed  ten  leagues  in  breadth  by  iifteen  in  length, ^^  He 
sent  un  army  agaii"!St  them  under  the  command  of  a  favorite  son. 
His  tro'jj'S  were  beatur,,  and  his  son  was  slain.  The  enr;i;-''cd 
anrl  mjortified  monarch  wa^  roused  to  still  greater  preparaiii;ns. 
He  enlisu'fl  the  forces  of  the  cities  bordering  on  his  eneniv,  to- 
gtj;;,cr  wi'h  iho^e  of  the  empire,  and  with  this  f(<rniicl:iiile  army 
surpt  over  tiie  devote  1  vulieys  of  I'lasrali.  I'm  the  boidmoun- 
ta'.n.;crs  witlulrew  uit')  ;l;c  recesses  C'f  their  h.il'.s,  iind.  coolly 
a'.'.'aiting  their  opportniii:  \'.  rushed  like  a  torient  on  [iu^  invaders, 

'' Can'.ar?')  flli-r.  de  '['lasc.iH,  AT'^. )  notices  the  extent  of  Montezuma's 
con  ''\'-  ■'  -. — a  fl'  hatal>le  c'roumi  for  t  :;■■  l:i:;tor!a:i. 

"  T'lrj  I' ir/uia,  M.>nari-li.  [n'l.,iJ).  :;,  ca;i.  m'k — S.ills  .sai.-s,  "  The  Tlas- 
calan  tc  rritory  was  fifty  lca:;'Mc^  in  I'r  ini!:;  r'TV;,  t  :i  1< '••,^',  fro;n  cast  to 
■wc-.t,  anrl  fonr  br'':.(l,  from  north  to  soul!'."  (( 'oinju'-sta  de  Mejico.  !ili.  3, 
%&[>.  3.)      Ic  must  ii.e.-i;  iiia'le  a  curioii.^  {lynr:'  ii;  j;''  mctr-"- ' 


jl84.  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

and  drove  them  back,  with  dreadful  slaughter,  from  their  tem 

ritories. 

Still,  notwithstanding  the  advantages  gained  over  the  enemy 
in  the  field,  the  Tlascalans  were  sorely  pressed  by  their  long 
hostilities  with  a  foe  so  far  superior  to  themselves  in  numbers 
and  resources.  The  Aztec  armies  lay  between  them  and  the 
coast,  cutting  off  all  communication  with  that  prolific  region,  and 
thus  limited  their  supplies  to  the  products  of  their  own  soil  and 
manufacture.  For  more  than  half  a  century  they  had  neither 
cotton,  nor  cacao,  nor  salt.  Indeed,  their  taste  had  been  so 
far  affected  by  long  abstinence  from  these  articles,  that  it  re- 
quired the  lapse  of  several  generations  after  the  Conquest,  to 
reconcile  them  to  the  use  of  salt  at  their  meals.^'*  During  the 
short  intervals  of  war,  it  is  said,  the  Aztec  nobles,  in  the  true 
spirit  of  chivalry,  sent  supplies  of  these  commodities  as  presents, 
with  many  courteous  expressions  of  respect,  to  the  Tlascalan 
chiefs.  This  intercourse,  we  are  assured  by  the  Indian  chroni- 
cler, was  unsuspected  by  the  people.  Nor  did  it  lead  to  any 
further  correspondence,  he  adds,  between  the  parties,  prejudicial 
to  the  liberties  of  the  republic,  "  which  maintained  its  customs 
and  good  government  inviolate,  and  the  worship  of  its  gods."^^ 

Such  was  the  condition  of  Tlascala,  at  the  coming  of  the  Span- 
iards ;  holding,  it  might  seem,  a  precarious  existence  under  the 
shadow  of  the  formidable  power  which  seemed  suspended  like 
an  avalanche  over  her  head,  but  still  strong  in  her  own  resources, 
stronger  in  the  indomitable  temper  of  her  people  ;  with  a  reputa- 
tion established  throughout  the  land,  for  good  faith  and  modera- 
tion in  peace,  for  valor  in  war,  while  her  uncompromising  spirit 
of  independence  secured  the  respect  even  of  her  enemies.  With 
such  qualities  of  character,  and  with  an  animosity  sharpened  by 
long,  deadly  hostility  with  Mexico,  her  alliance  was  obviously  of 
the  last  importance  to  the  Spaniards,  in  their  present  enterprise. 
It  was  not  easy  to  secure  it.''^ 

The  Tlascalans  had  been  made  acquainted  with  the  advance 
and  victorious  career  of  the  Christians,  the  intelligence  of  which 

"^  Camargo,  Hist,  de  Tlascala  MS. 

^  ■'  Los  Senores  Mejicanos  y  Tezcucanos  entiempo  que  ponian  treguas  por 
algiinas  temporadas  embiaban  a  los  Senores  de  Tlaxcalla  grandes  presents 
y  da.livas  de  oro,  ropa,  y  cacao,  y  sal,  y  de  todas  las  cosas  de  (|ue  carecian, 
sin  ;ie  !a  gente  plebeva  lo  entendiese,  v  se  saludaban  secretamente.  guar- 
danJ.ose  eldecoro  que  se  debian :  mas  con  todos  estos  trabajos  la  orden  de 
su  rcpublica  jamas  se  dejaba  de  gobernar  con  la  rectitud  de  sus  costumbres 
guardando  inviolablemente  el  culto  de  sus  Dioses."      Ibid.,  MS. 

^*  The  Tlascalan  chroncler  discerns  in  this  deep-rooted  hatred  of  Mexico 
the  hand  of  Providence,  who  wrought  out  of  it  an  important  means  for  sub* 
verting  the  .»\ztec  empire.     Hist,  de  Tlascala  MS. 


EARLY  HIS  TOR  K  285 

had  spread  far  and  wide  over  the  plateau.  But  they  do  not  seem 
to  have  anticipated  the  ap!)roach  of  the  strangers  to  their  own 
borders.  They  were  now  much  embarrassed  bv  the  embassy 
demanding  a  passage  through  their  territories.  The  great  coun- 
cil was  convened,  and  a  considerable  difference  of  opinion  pre- 
vailed in  its  members.  Sr>me.  adopting  the  popular  supersii;ion, 
supposed  the  Spaniards  miglit  be  the  white  and  bearded  men  fore- 
told by  tlio  orach's.'"  At  ail  events,  they  were  the  enemies  of 
Mexico,  and  as  nuich  might  cooperate  with  them  in  their  struggle 
with  the  empire.  Others  argued  that  the  strangers  could  have 
nothing  in  common  \\ith  th'.;m.  Tlieir  march  throughout  the 
land  might  be  tracked  bv  the  broken  images  of  the  Indian  gods, 
and  desecrated  temples.  I  low  did  the  Tiascalans  even  know 
that  they  were  foes  to  Montezuma  ?  Thoy  had  received  his 
embassies,  accepted  his  presents,  and  were  now  in  the  company 
of  his  vassals  or.  the  way  to  his  capita!. 

These  last  were  the  reflections  of  an  aged  chief,  one  of  the 
four  who  presided  over  the  republic.  His  name  was  Xicotencatl. 
He  was  nearly  blind,  having  lived,  as  it  is  said,  far  beyond  the 
limits  of  a  century.-''^  His  son,  an  impetuous  young  man  of  the 
same  naiue  with  himself,  commanded  a  powerful  army  of  Tlas- 
calan  and  Otomie  warriors,  near  the  eastern  frontier.  It  would 
be  best,  the  old  man  said,  to  fall  with  this  force  at  once  on  the 
Spaniards.  If  victorious,  the  latter  would  then  be  in  their  power. 
If  defeated,  the  senate  could  disown  the  act  as  that  cf  the  gen- 
eral, not  of  the  republic.-^'  The  cunning  counsel  of  the  chief 
found  favor  v/ith  his  hearers,  though  assuredly  not  in  the  spirit 
or  citivalrv,  nor  of  the  good  faith  for  which  his  countrxinen  were 
celebrated.  I5ut  with  an  Indian,  force  and  stratagem,  cotuage 
and  deceit,  were  equallv  admissible  in  v:ar,  as  they  Vicre  aiiiong 
the  barbarians  of  ancient  Rome.'* — The  Cempoitlir.n  ei'voys 
were  to  be  detained  under  pretence  of  assisting  at  a  religious 
sacriircc- 

1-  '*  Si  bicn  OS  ricordais,  como  tenemos  de  nuestia  antii^uedad  conio  hac: 
de  venir  g'.-nies  a  la  ]-artc  donde  sale  l*1  sol,  y  que  han  di.-  cLiiu'.itV'i.  .  coii 
tv(-v);r^).i,  y  ijuc  ii'^Mii-.s   <\^   .ser  t'-d/s  iuims  ;  y  ij'jc   b.an  do    s:  r  i'i;inr.'.N  ;■  bar- 

■  '  d'o  the  ri;)L-  a-^^  1,1  oik.-  liiiisdir-d  ,;iid  fr>ri\  '  if  w:-  iruycrc;:',  (_':i:'i;:tpo. 
.'■•./:;  ,  wl.w  c,')iil'fj'.u,i.T  tl.is  vctcra;i  with  iiis  s!>n,  ii:!-  put  a  liaiiis!  'hl;  Ua- 
r.:j'.i(.;  in  ill'.-  iii'ju''.  '  a"  ill-:  iaUvr,  v.iii-h  W/iiid  be  a  xai--  ^'.-ih  o:  indiau  elo 
•;  j:-;.>  I — v,i.-ic  ;t  ii"t  Ca-.tiba:!.      ■    nu'iuista,  liii.  2,  lap.    io. 

■■■  !  ;  tin:'::''.  lb-'.  ,•■_:  '!":,.Maii.  M  S.  — I  brr'-r-'.  Ih-'.  Crricra!.  dec.  :;.  liU 
6.  raji.  3.  —  ■r-.r'iii'-niaf!'!,  .\b)nir<.!!.  ind.,  ,  !>.  .:,  iib.  .|,  .   .p.  27. 

T'l'jr'-  :s  SMii'  :■  lit  (.:iiri.radi(:bi,ii,  a.T  wril  a-,  obsrMri!',-,  in  biie  jiocfi-'linij? 
reprrtc!  i;[\\\i.:  1  jii:ii.ii.  '.s'liich  it  is  not  easy  U)  reconcile  altogether  with  -'i1.>r®- 
quent  event';. 

il~  " Dclui  an  virtus,  qui*  in  hoste  requirat  ?  " 


S86  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

Meanwhile,  Cortds  and  his  gallant  band,  as  stated  in  tbe  pre^ 
ceding  chapter,  had  arrived  before  the  rocky  rampart  on  the 
eastern  confines  of  Tlascala.  From  some  cause  or  other,  it 
was  not  manned  by  its  Otomie  garrison,  and  the  Spaniards  pass- 
ed in,  as  we  have  seen,  without  resistance.  Cortes  rode  at  the 
head  of  his  body  of  horse,  and,  ordering  the  infantry  to  come  on 
at  a  quick  pace,  went  forward  to  reconnoitre.  After  advancing 
three  or  four  leagues,  he  descried  a  small  party  of  Indians, 
armed  with  sword  and  buckler,  in  the  fashion  of  the  country. 
They  fled  at  his  approach.  He  made  signs  for  them  to  halt, 
but,  seeing  that  they  only  fled  the  faster,  he  and  his  companions 
put  spur  to  their  horses,  and  soon  came  up  with  them.  The 
Indians,  finding  escape  impossible,  faced  round,  and,  instead  of 
showing  the  accustomed  terror  of  the  natives  at  the  strange  and 
appalling  aspect  of  a  mounted  trooper,  they  commenced  afurioua 
assault  on  the  cavaliers.  The  latter,  however,  were  too  strong 
for  them,  and  would  have  cut  their  enemy  to  pieces  without  much 
iifficulty,  when  a  body  of  several  thousand  Indians  appeared  in 
sight,  and  coming  briskly  on  to  the  support  of  their  country- 
men. 

Cortes,  seeing  them,  despatched  one  of  his  party,  in  all  haste, 
to  accelerate  the  march  of  his  infantry.  The  Indians,  after 
discharging  their  missiles,  fell  furiously  on  the  little  band  of 
Spaniards.  They  strove,  to  tear  the  lances  from  their  grasp,  and 
to  drag  the  riders  from  the  horses.  They  brought  one  cavalier 
to  the  ground,  who  afterwards  died  of  his  wounds,  and  they 
killed  two  of  the  horses,  cutting  through  their  necks  with  their 
stout  broadswords — if  we  may  believe  the  chronicler — at  a 
blow!  ^^  In  the  narrative  of  these  campaigns,  there  is  sometimes 
but  one  step — and  that  a  short  one — from  history  to  romance. 
The  loss  of  the  horses,  so  important  and  so  few  in  number,  was 
seriously  felt  by  Cortes,  who  could  have  better  spared  the  life  of 
the  best  rider  in  the  troop. 

The  struggle  was  a  hard  one.  But  the  odds  were  as  over- 
whelming -IS  any  recorded  by  the  Spaniards  in  their  own  ro- 
mances, where  a  handful  of  knights  is  arraved  against  legions 
of  enemies.  The  lances  of  the  Christians  did  terrible  execution 
here  also  ;  but  they  had  need  of  the  magic  lance  of  Astolpho, 
that  overturned  myriads  with  a  touch,  to  carry  them  safe 
through  so  unequal  a  contest.  It  was  with  no  little  satisfaction, 
therefore,  that  they  beheld  their  comrades  rapidly  advancing  to 
their  support. 

^®  "  I  les  mataroii  dos  Caballos,  de  dos  cuchilladas,  i  segu  .  algunos,  que  lo 
▼i^ron,  cortaron  a  cercen  de  un  golpe  cada  pescuei^o  con  riendai,  1  todas." 
Gomaro,  Croiiica,  cap.  45. 


EA  RL  Y  HIS  TOR  Y.  287 

No  sooner  had  the  main  body  reached  the  field  of  battle, 
than,  hastily  forming,  they  poured  such  a  volley  from  their 
muskets  and  crossbows  as  staggered  the  enemy.  Astounded, 
rather  than  intimidated,  by  the  terrible  report  of  the  fire-arms, 
now  heard  for  the  first  time  in  these  regions,  the  Indians  made 
no  further  effort  to  continue  the  fight,  but  drew  off  in  good  order, 
leaving  the  road  open  to  the  Spaniards.  The  latter,  too  well 
satisfied  to  be  rid  of  the  annoyance,  to  care  to  follow  the  re- 
treating foe,  again  held  on  their  way. 

Their  route  took  them  through  a  country  sprinkled  over  with 
Indian  cottages,  amidst  nourishing  fields  of  maize  and  maguey, 
indicating  an  industrious  and  thriving  peasantry.  They  were 
met  here  by  two  Tlascalan  envoys,  accompanied  by  two  of  the 
Cempoallans.  The  former,  presenting  themselves  before  the 
general,  disavowed  the  assault  on  his  troops,  as  an  unauthorized 
act,  and  assured  him  of  a  friendly  reception  at  their  capital. 
Cortes  received  the  communication  in  a  courteous  manner,  affect- 
ing to  place  more  confidence  in  its  good  faith,  than  he  probably 
felt. 

It  was  now  growing  late,  and  the  Spaniards  quickened  their 
march,  anxious  to  reach  a  favorable  ground  for  encampment 
before  nightfall.  They  found  such  a  spot  on  the  borders  of  a 
stream  that  rolled  sluggishly  across  the  plain.  A  few  deserted 
cottages  stood  along  the  banks,  and  the  fatigued  and  fam- 
ished soldiers  ransacked  them  in  quest  of  food.  All  they  could 
find  was  some  tame  animals  resembling  dogs.  These  they 
killed  and  dressed  without  ceremony,  and,  garnishing  their  un- 
savory repast  with  the  fruit  of  the  ttma,  the  Indian  fig,  which 
grew  wild  in  the  neighborhood,  they  contrived  to  satisfy  the 
cravings  of  appetite.  A  careful  watch  was  maintained  by  Cortds, 
and  companies  of  a  hundred  men  each  relieved  each  other  in 
mounting  guard  through  the  night.  But  no  attack  was  made. 
Hostilities  by  night  were  contrary  to  the  system  of  Indian 
tactics.^-' 

By  break  of  day  on  the  following  morning,  it  being  the  second 
of  September,  the  troops  were  under  arms.  Beside  the  S])an- 
iards,  the  whole  number  of  Indian  auxiliaries  might  now  amount 
to  three  thousand  ;  for  Cortes  had  gatheretl  recruits  from  the 
friendly  places  on  his  route  ;  three  hundred  from  the  last.  After 
hearing    mass,    they    resumed    their    march.      They    moved    in 

.se    array  ;  the    general   had   previously  admonished  the   men 

'^'  Rel.  Scg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana,  p.  50. — Camargo,  Ilist.  de  Tlascala, 
MS. — Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conqiiista,  cap.  C2. — Goinara,  Cronica,  cap^ 
45.— Oviedi),  Hist,  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  33,  cap,  3,  41. — Sahagun,  Hist, 
de  Nueva  Espana,  MS.,  lib.  12,  cap.  10. 


SSS  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

not  to  lag  behind,  ot  wander  from  the  ranks  a  moment,  as  strag. 
glers  would  be  sure  to  be  cut  off  by  their  stealthy  and  vigilant 
enemy.  The  horsemen  rode  three  abreast,  the  better  to  give 
one  another  support;  and  Cortes  instructed  them,  in  the  heat 
of  iight  to  keep  together,  and  never  to  charge  singly.  He 
taugiit  them  how  to  carry  their  lances,  that  they  might  not  be 
wrested  from  their  hands  by  the  Indians,  who  constantly  at- 
tempted it.  For  the  same  reason,  they  should  avoid  giving 
thrusts,  but  aim  their  weapons  steadily  at  the  faces  of  their 
foes.21 

They  had  not  piroceeded  far,  when  they  were  met  by  the 
two  remaining  Cempoallan  envoys,  who  with  looks  of  terror 
informed  the  general  that  they  had  been  treacherously  seized 
and  confined,  in  order  to  be  sacrificed  at  an  approaching  festival 
of  the  Tlasca-Ians.  but  in  the  night  had  succeeded  in  making 
their  escape.  Tliey  gave  the  unwelcome  tidings,  also,  that  a 
large  force  of  the  natives  was  already  assembled  to  oppose  the 
progress  of  the  Spaniards. 

Sjon  after,  they  came  in  sight  of  a  body  of  Indians,  about  a 
thoMsandj  apparently,  all  armed  and  b'-andishing  their  weapons, 
as  the  Christians  approached,  in  token  of  defiance.  Cortc's, 
when  he  had  come  within  hearing,  ordered  the  interpreters  to 
proclaim  that  he  had  no  hostile  intentions  ;  but  wished  only  to 
be  allowed  a  passage  through  their  country,  which  he  had  en- 
tered as  a  friend.  This  declaration  he  commanded  the  royal 
notary,  Godoy,  to  record  on  the  spot,  that,  if  blood  were  shed, 
it  might  not  be  charged  on  the  Spaniards.  This  pacific  procla- 
mation was  m.et,  as  ui^ua!  on  sue'-,  occasions,  by  a  shower  of  darts, 
stones,  and  arrows,  which  fell  like  rain  on  the  Spaniards,  rattling 
on  their  stout  harness,  and  in  seme  instances  penetrating  to  the 
skin.  Galled  '^y  the  smart  of  their  wounds,  they  called  on  the 
general  to  lead  them  on,  till  he  sounded  the  well  known  battle- 
cry.  ''  St.  Jago,  and  at  them  !  "  ^^ 

I'he  Indians  maintained  their  ground  for  a  while  v.ith  spirit, 
when  they  retreated  with  precipitation,  but  riot  m  disorder.* 
The  Spaniards,  whose  blood  v/as  heated  by  the  encounter, 
foiioweci  up  their  advantage  with  more  zeal  than  prudence,  suf- 
fering the  v.ily  enemy  to  draw  them  into  a  narrow  glen  or  defile, 
intersected  by  a  little  stream  of  water,  where  the  broken  ground 

'-  "  Que  rjuando  rompiessemos  por  los  esquadrones,  que  lleuassen  las 
;ar;'fij,  poi  ias  taras,  y  n o  pitrasscri  a  dar  lar.^adas,  porqae  no  les  echass-'O 
maiit.  (bllas "'     Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  62. 

■■^'  ''  i'^ntonces  dixo  Cortes,  '  Santiago,  y  a  eilos.'  "     Ibid.,  cap.  63. 

^'  "  Una  gentii  contienda,"  says  Gomara  of  this  skirmish.  Cr6nie% 
CAp.  46. 


DESFEKA  TE  BA  TTLES. 


~^9 


was  impracticable  for  artillery,  as  well  as  for  the  movements  of 
cavalry.  Pressing  forward  with  eagerness,  to  extricate  them- 
selves from  their  perilous  position,  to  their  great  dismay,  on 
turning  an  abrupt  angle  of  the  pass,  they  came  in  presence  of 
a  numerous  army,  choking  up  the  gorge  of  the  valley,  and 
Stretching  far  over  the  plains  beyond.  To  the  astonished  eyea 
of  Cortds,  they  appeared  a  hundred  thousand  men,  while 
no  account  estimates  them  at  less  than  thirty  thousand.'^ 

They  presented  a  confused  assemblage  of  helmets,  weapons, 
and  many-colored  plumes,  glancing  bright  in  the  morning  sun, 
and  mingled  with  banners,  above  which  proudly  floated  one 
that  bore  as  a  device  the  heron  on  a  rock.  It  was  the  well 
known  ensign  of  tiie  house  of  Titcala,  and,  as  well  as  the  white 
and  yellow  stripes  on  the  bodies,  and  the  like  colors  on  the 
feather-mail  of  the  Indians,  showed  that  they  were  the  warriors 
of  Xicotencatl.^ 

As  the  Spaniards  came  in  sight,  the  Tlascalans  set  up  a 
hideous  war-cry,  or  rather  whistle,  piercing  the  ear  with  its 
shrillness,  and  which,  with  the  beat  of  their  melancholy  drums, 
that  could  be  heard  for  half  a  league  or  more,*^  might  well  have 
filled  the  stoutest  heart  with  dismay.  This  formidable  host 
came  rolling  on  towards  the  Christians,  as  if  to  everwhelm  them 
by  their  very  numbers.  But  the  courageous  band  of  warriors, 
closely  serried  together  and  sheltered  under  their  strong  pano- 
plies, received  the  shock  unshaken,  while  the  broken  masses  of 
the    enemy,  chafing    and    heaving   tumukuously  around    them, 

"^  Rel  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana.  p.  51.  According  to  Gomara, 
(Cronica,  cap.  46,)  the  enemy  mustered  So, 000.  So,  also,  Ixtlilxochitl. 
(Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  S^-)  Bernal  Diaz  says,  more  than  40,000,  (Hist, 
de  la  Concjuista,  cap  63.)  But  Herrera  (Hist.  Cjeneral,  dec.  2.  lib.  6,  cap, 
5)  and  Torc|ueiiiada  (Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  4,  cap.  20)  reduce  them  to  30,000. 
One  might  as  easily  reckon  the  leaves  in  a  forest,  as  the  numbers  of  a  confused 
throng  of  barbarians.  As  this  was  only  one  of  several  armies  kept  on  foot 
by  the  Tlascalans,  the  smallest  amount  is.  probably,  too  large,  The  whole 
population  of  the  state,  according  to  Clavigero.  who  would  not  be  likely  to 
underrate  it,  did  not  exceed  half  a  million  al  the  time  of  the  invasion.  Stor. 
del  Messico,  torn.  I.  p.  156. 

■^"^  '■  La  divisa  y  armas  dc  la  casa  v  cabecera  de  Titcala  es  una  garga  blanca 
tobre  un  pcnasco."{Camargo.  I  list.'  de  Tiascala,  MS. !  "  VA  capitan  general,' 
tzys  Bernal  I)iaz,  "cjue  se  dc/.ia  Xicotenga.  v  con  sus  diiiisas  de  bianco  y 
Colorado,  porcjue  af|uella  diuisa  v  liberea  era  de  aquel  Xicotenga."'  Hist.  d« 
]a  (Jonqui-ita,  cap.  63. 

*' "  Llaman  Teponaztle  cjues  fie  un  tiozo  de  madero  concavado  y  dc  una 
pieza  rolli/o  y,  como  decimos.  hucco  ])or  dc  dentro,  que  suena  algunas  vece* 
mas  demedia  Icgua  y  con  el  atambor  hace  estrana  y  suave  consonancia." 
(Camargo,  Hist,  de  Tlascala,  MS.  |  Clavigero,  who  gives  a  drawing  of  this 
•ame  drum,  aays  it  is  still  used  by  the  Indians,  and  may  be  heard  two  of 
three  miles.     Stor.  del  Messico,  torn.  II.  p.  179. 


S^t 


MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 


seemed  to  recede  only  to  return  with  new  and  accumulated 

force. 

Cortds,  as  usual,  in  the  front  of  danger,  in  vain  endeavored, 
at  the  head  of  the  horse,  to  open  a  passage  for  the  infantry. 
Still  his  men,  both  cavalry  and  foot,  kept  their  array  unbroken, 

offering  no  assailable  point  to  their  foe.  A  body  of  the  Tlasca- 
lans,  however,  acting  in  concert,  assaulted  a  soldier  named 
Moran,  one  of  the  best  riders  in  the  troops.  They  succeeded 
in  dragging  him  from  his  horse,  which  thiey  despatched  with  a 
thousand  blows.  The  Spaniards,  on  foot,  made  a  desperate 
effort  to  rescue  their  comrade  from  ilie  hands  of  the  enemy, — 
and  from  the  horrible  doom  of  the  captive.  A  fierce  struggle 
now  began  over  the  body  of  the  prostrate  horse.  Ten  of  the 
Spaniards  were  wounded,  when  they  succeeded  in  retrieving  the 
unfortunate  cavalier  from  his  assailants,  but  in  so  disastrous  a 
plight  liiat  he  died  on  the  following  day.  The  horse  was  borne 
off  in  triumph  by  the  Indians,  and  his  mangled  remains  were 
sent,  a  s:.range  trophy,  to  the  different  towns  of  Tlascala.  The 
circumstances  troubled  the  Spanish  commander,  as  ir  divested 
the  animal  of  the  supernatural  terrors  with  which  the  supersti- 
tion of  the  natives  had  usually  surrounded  it.  To  prevent  such 
a  consequence  ;  he  had  caused  the  two  horses,  killed  on  the 
preceding  day,  to  be  secretly  buried  on  the  spot. 

The  enemy  now  began  to  give  ground  gradually,  borne  down 
Oy  the  riders,  and  trampled  under  the  hoofs  of  their  horses. 
Through  the  whole  of  this  sharp  encounter,  the  Indian  allies  were 
of  great  service  to  the  Spaniards.  They  rushed  into  the  water, 
and  grapi^led  their  enemies,  w'ith  the  desperation  of  men  who 
leit  that  "their  only  safety  was  in  the  despair  of  safety."'*^  *'  1 
see  nothing  but  death  for  us,"  exclaimed  a  Cempoallan  chief  to 
Marina  ;  •'  we  shall  never  get  through  the  pass  alive  "  The  God 
of  the  Christians  is  with  us,"  answered  the  intrepid  woman  : 
«  and  He  will  carry  as  safely  through.'*  »^ 

Amidst  the  diri  of  battle,  the  voice  of  Cortes  was  heard,  cheer- 
ing on  his  soldiers.  "  If  we  fail  now,"  he  cried,  "  the  cross  of 
Christ  can  never  be  planted  in  the  land.  Forward,  comrades  ! 
When  was  it  ever  known  that  a  Castilian  turned  iris  back  on  '^ 
foer''*'^  Animated  by  the  words  and  heroic  bearing  of  then' 
genera;,  the  soldier:-;,  with  desperate  efforts,  at  length  succeeded 

''-'Una  illis  fuit  spes  salutis,  desperasse  de  salute."  /P.  Martyr,  i>e 
Orbc  Novo.  dec.  i,  cap.  i.j     Ir  is  said  with  the  classic  energy  of  Tacitus. 

■''^  "  Res))onci)61e    Marina,  c,me   no  tuviese   miedo,  porque   el    l>ios  de  ins- 
Chrisiianos,  que  es  muy  poderoso,  i  ios  queria  mucho,  log sacaria de  peligr<j. 
ticrrera,  Hi-^^t.  tieneral,  dec  2,  lib.  6,  cap.  5. 

*  Ibid.,  aijj  supra. 


DESPERATE  BATTLES. 


tyk 


in  forcing  a  passage  through  the  dark  columns  of  the  enemy, 
and  emerged  from  the  defile  on  the  open  plain  beyond. 

Here  they  quickly  recovered  their  confidence  with  their  su- 
periority. The  horse  soon  opened  a  space  for  the  manoeuvres  of 
the  artillery.  The  close  files  of  their  antagonists  presented  asuie 
mark  ;  and  the  thunders  of  the  ordnance  vomiting  forth  torrents 
of  fire  and  sulphurous  smoke,  the  wide  desolation  caused  in 
their  ranks,  and  the  strangely  mangled  carcasses  of  the  sla'n, 
filled  the  barbarians  with  consternation  and  horror.  They  had 
no  weapons  to  cope  with  these  terrible  engines,  and  their  clumsy 
missiles,  discharged  from  uncertain  hands,  seemed  to  fall  ineffect- 
ual on  the  charmed  heads  of  the  Christians.  What  added  to 
their  embarrassment  was,  the  desire  to  carry  off  the  dead  and 
wounded  from  the  field,  a  general  practice  among  the  people 
of  Anahuac,  but  which  necessarily  exposed  them,  while  thus  em- 
ployed, to  still  greater  loss. 

Eight  of  their  principal  chiefs  had  now  fallen  ;  and  Xicotencatl, 
finding  himself  wholly  unable  to  make  head  against  the  Spaniards 
in  the  open  field,  ordered  a  retreat.  Far  from  the  confusion  of  a 
panic-struck  mob,  so  common  among  barbarians,  the  TIascalan 
force  moved  off  the  ground  with  all  the  order  of  a  well  disciplin- 
ed army.  Cortes  as  on  the  preceding  day,  was  too  well  satis- 
fied with  his  present  advantage  to  desire  to  follow  it  up.  It  v  a  > 
within  an  hour  of  sunset,  and  he  was  anxious  before  nightfall  to 
secure  a  guod  position,  where  he  might  refresh  his  wounded 
troops,  and  bivouac  for  the  night.-^^ 

Gathering  up  his  wounded,  he  held  on  his  way,  without  losi 
of  time  ;  and  before  dusk  reached  a  rocky  eminence,  called 
TzompachttpitI,  or  "the  hill  Tzompach."  It  was  crowned  by  .i 
sort  of  towur  or  temple,  the  remains  of  which  are  still  visible.  ^ 
His  first  care  was  given  to  the  wounded,  both  men  and  horse;. 
Fortunately,  an  abundance  of  provisions  were  found  in  sou  o 
neighboring  cottages  ;  and  the  soldiers,  at  least  all  who  were  not 
disabled  by  their  injuries,  celebrated  the  victory  of  the  day  with 
feasting  and  rejoicing. 

As  to  the  number  of  killed  or  wounded  on  either  side,  it  i 
matter  of  loosest  conjecture.  Tlie  Indians  must  have  sufferer 
severely  but  the  practice  of  carrying  off  the  dead  from  the  field 
made  it  nnpossible  to  know  to  what  extent.  The  injury  sustain<''d 
by  the  Spaniards  appears  to  have  been  principally  in  the  number 

*>  Ovicdo,  Hist,  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  77,  cap,  3,  45.— IxtlilxochitI,  His'. 
Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  83. — Rel.  .Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana,  p.  51.— Bern  i 
Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquisu,  cap.  63. — Gotnara,  Cr6nica,  cap.  4a 

"  Viaje  de  Cort^.  ap.  Lorenzana,  p.  ix 


a92 


MARCH  TO  MEXICO, 


of  their  wounded    The  great  object  of  the  natives  of  Anahuac 

in  their  battles  was,  to  make  prisoners,  who  might  grace  theif 
triumphs,  and  supply  victims  for  sacrifice.  To  this  brutal  su- 
perstition the  Christians  were  indebted,  in  no  slight  degree,  for 
their  persona!  preservation.  To  take  the  reports  of  the  Conquer- 
ors, their  own  losses  in  action  were  always  inconsiderable.  But 
whoever  has  had  occasion  to  consult  the  ancient  chroniclers  of 
Spain  in  relation  to  its  v;ars  with  the  infidel,  whether  Arab  of 
American,  will  place  little  confidence  in  numbers.® 

The  events  of  the  day  had  suggested  many  topics  tor  painful 
refleption  to  Cortds.  He  had  nowhere  met  with  so  determined 
3  resistance  within  tlie  borders  of  Anahuac  ;  nowhere  had  he 
encountered  native  troops  so  formidable  for  their  weapons,  their 
discipline,  and  their  valor.  Far  from  manifesting  the  supersti- 
tious terrors  felt  by  the  other  Indians,  at  the  strange  arms  and 
aspect  of  the  Spaniards,  the  Tlascalans  had  boldly  grappled 
with  their  enemy,  and  only  yielded  to  the  inevitable  supenority 
of  his  military  science.  How  important  v.'ould  the  alliance  of 
such  a  nation  be  in  a  struggle  with  those  of  their  own  race, — for 
example,  with  the  Aztecs !  But  how  was  he  to  secure  this  al- 
liance "i  Hitherto,  all  overtures  bad  been  rejected  with  disdain ; 
?»^-d  it  seemed  probable,  that  every  step  of  his  progress  in  this 
b'  pulous  land  was  to  be  fiercely  contested.  His  army,  especially 
the  iDoians,  celebrated  the  events  of  the  day  with  feasting  and 
dancing,  songs  of  merriment,  and  shouts  of  triumph.  Cortes 
encouraged  it,  well  knowing  how  important  it  was  to  keep  up  the 
spirits  of  his  soldiers.  But  the  soi^nds  of  revelry  at  length 
died  away  .;  and  in  the  still  watches  of  the  night,  ir>any  an  anxious 
thought  must  have  crowded  on  the  mind  of  the  general,  while 
his  little  army  lay- buried  in  slumber  in  its  encau.pmenL  around 
the  Indian  hill. 

'^^  A'^cordlng  N>  Cortes  r.ct  ?.  Sp?.nisrd  fell, — though  many  wjrc  wounded,— 
m  this  action  -o  fat?.L  to  ths  infidel '  Dia?:  allows  one.  in  the  famous  battle 
of  Navas  cle  Tolosa;  between  the  Spaniards  and  Arabs,  in  1212,  equally 
matched  in  miiicary  science  at  that  'ioie,  theto  ^es*  left  2--X).onc  of  the 
latter  on  the  fisld;' and,  to  bti'ance  this  blacxJy  roll,  only  live  and  twenty 
Christians!  See  the  estimate  in  Alfonso  IX.'s  veracious  letter,  ayi.  Mariana 
{Hist,  de  E->paiia,  lib.  2,  cap.  24).  The  official  returns  of  the  old  Castilian 
crusaders,  whether  in  the  Old  World  or  in  the  New,  are  scarcely  aioretnutfr 
worthy  than  a  Frer.ch  impsrial  balletin  ia  ^xx  d«|. 


DECISIVE  VICTORY'  993 


CHAPTER  III. 

Dbcisive  Victory. — Indian  Ccn}NciL, — Ni»»ht  Attack. — Nki&- 

TIATIONS  WITH  THE  EnEMY. — TlASOALAN  HEHu^ 

The  Spaniards  were  allowed  to  repose  undisturbed  the  follow- 
ing  day,  and  to  recruit  their  strength  atter  the  fatigue  and  haro 
fighting  of  the  preceding.  They  found  stiftlcient  employment, 
however,  in  repairing  and  cleaning  their  weapons,  replenishing 
their  diminished  stock  of  arrows,  and  getting  every  thing  m 
order  for  further  hostilities,  should  the  severe  lesson  they  had  in- 
flicted on  the  enemy  prove  insufficient  to  discourage  him.  On 
the  second  day,  as  Cortes  received  no  overtures  from  the  Tlasca* 
^ans,  he  determined  to  send  an  embassy  to  their  camp,  propos- 
ing a  cessation  of  hostilities,  and  expressing  his  intention  to 
visit  their  capital  as  a  friend.  He  selected  two  of  the  principal 
chiefs  taken  in  the  late  crtgagement,  as  the  bearers  trf  the 
message. 

Meanwhile,  averse  to  Jc-aving  his  men  longer  in  a  dangerous 
state  of  inaction,  which  the  enemy  might  interpret  as  the  result  erf 
timidity  or  exhaustion,  he  put  himself  at  the  bead  of  the  cavalry 
and  such  light  troops  as  were  most  fit  for  service,  and  made  a 
foray  into  the  neighboring  country.  It  was  a  mountainous  region, 
formed  by  a  ramification  of  the  great  sierra  of  Ylascaia,  with 
verdant  slopes  and  valleys  teeming  with  maize  and  plantations 
of  maguey,  while  the  eminences  were  crowned  with  populous 
towns  and  villages.  In  one  of  these,  tie  tells  us,  he  lound  three 
thousand  dwellings.^  In  some  places  he  met  with  a  resolute  re- 
sistance, and  on  these  occasions  took  ample  vengoance  by  lay- 

1  Rel   Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  I^orenzana,  p.  152. 

Oviedo  who  made  free  use  of  the  manuscripts  of  Cortifs,  writes  thfrty-niBP 
houses,  niist.de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  33,  cap.  3.)  This  may  perhaps,  be 
explained  by  the  sipn  for  a  thousand,  in  Spanish  notation,  ocaring  }:reat 
retemblance  to  the  figure  9.  Martyr,  who  had  access,  also,  to  tne  Conquerort 
manuscript,  confirms  the  larger,  and,  a  priori,  less  probable  number. 
iM'Xico  1?  Vol.  1 


294 


MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 


ing  the  countiy  waste  with  fire  and  sword.     After  a  successful 

inroad  he  returned  laden  with  forage  and  provisions,  and  driving 
before  him  several  hundred  Indian  captives,  He  treated  them 
kindly,  however,  when  arrived  in  camp,  endeavoring  to  make  them 
understand  that  these  acts  of  violence  were  not  dictated  by  his  own 
wishes,  but  by  the  unfriendly  policy  of  their  countrymen.  In 
this  way  he  hoped  to  impress  the  nation  with  the  conviction  of 
his  power  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  his  amicable  intentions,  if 
met  by  them  in  the  like  spirit,  on  the  other. 

On  reaching  his  quarters,  he  found  the  two  envoys  returned 
from  the  Tlascalan  camp.  They  had  fallen  in  with  Xicotencatl 
at  about  two  leagues'  distance,  where  he  lay  encamped  with  a 
powerful  force.  The  cacique  gave  them  audience  at  the  head  of 
his  troops.  He  told  them  to  return  with  the  answer,  "  That  the 
Spaniards  might  pass  on  as  soon  as  they  chose  to  Tlascala ; 
and,  when  they  reached  it,  their  flesh  would  be  hewn  from  their 
bodies,  for  sacrifice  to  the  gods  !  If  they  preferred  to  remain 
in  their  own  quarters,  he  would  pay  them  a  visit  there  the  next 
day."'  The  ambassadors  added,  that  the  chief  had  an  immense 
force  with  him,  consisting  of  five  battalions  of  ten  thousand  men 
each.  They  were  the  flower  of  the  Tlascalan  and  Otomie  war- 
riors, assembled  under  the  banners  of  their  respective  leaders, 
by  command  of  the  senate,  who  were  resolved  to  try  the  fortunes 
of  the  state  in  a  pitched  battle,  and  strike  one  decisive  blow  for 
the  extermination  of  the  invaders.^ 

This  bold  defiance  fell  heavily  on  the  ears  of  the  Spaniards, 
not  prepared  for  so  pertinacious  a  spirit  in  their  enemy.  They 
had  had  ample  proof  of  his  courage  and  formidable  prowess. 
They  were  now,  in  their  crippled  condition,  to  encounter  him 
with  a  still  more  terrible  array  of  numbers.  The  war,  too,  from 
the  horrible  fate  with  which  it  menaced  the  vanquished,  wore  a 
peculiarly  gloomy  aspect,  that  pressed  heavily  on  their  spirits. 
"  We  feared  death,"  says  the  lion-hearted  Diaz,  with  his  usual 
simplicity,  "  for  we  were  men."  There  was  scarcely  one  in  the 
army,  that  did  not  confess  himself  that  night  to  the  reverend 
father  Olmedo,  who  was  occupied  nearly  the  whole    of  it  with 

2  "  Que  fuessemos  a  su  pueblo  adonde  esta  su  padre  q  alia  haTian  las 
pazes  CO  hartarse  de  nuestras  carnes,  y  honrar  sus  dioses  con  miestros  cora- 
cones,  y  sangre,  e  que  para  otro  dia  de  manana  veriamos  su  respuesta." 
Bernal  Diaz.  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  64. 

3  More  than  one  writer  repeats  a  story  of  the  Tlascalan  general's  sending  a 
good  supply  of  provisions,  at  this  time,  to  the  famished  army  of  the  Spaniards; 
to  put  them  in  stomach,  it  may  be,  for  the  fighv,  (Gom?ra,  Cronica.  cap 
46.— Ixlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  83.)  This  ultra-chivalrous  display 
from  the  barbarian  is  not  very  probable,  and  Cortes"  own  account  of  his  suc- 
cessful foray  mav  much  betttr  explain  the  abundance  which  reigned  in  hw 
c»mp. 


DECISIVE  VICTORY. 


395 


•dministering  absolution,  and  with  the  other  solemn  offices  of 
the  Church.  Armed  with  the  blessed  sacraments,  the  Catholic 
soldier  lay  tranquilly  down  to  rest,  prepared  for  any  fate  that 
might  betide  him  under  the  banner  of  the  cross.* 

As  a  battle  was  now  inevitable,  Cortes  resolved  to  march  out 
and  meet  the  enemy  in  the  field.  This  would  have  a  show  of 
confidence,  that  might  serve  the  double  purpose  of  intimidating 
the  Tiascalans,  and  inspiriiing  his  own  men,  whose  enthusiasm 
might  lose  somewhat  of  its  heat,  if  compelled  to  await  the  assault 
of  their  antagonists,  inactive  in  their  own  intrenchments.  The 
sun  rose  bright  on  the  following  morning,  the  5th  of  September, 
1519,  an  eventful  day  in  the  history  of  the  Spanish  Conquest. 
The  general  reviewed  his  army,  and  gave  them,  preparatory  to 
marching,  a  few  words  of  encouragement  and  advice.  The  m- 
fantry  he  instructed  to  rely  on  the  point  rather  than  the  edge  of 
their  swords,  and  to  endeavor  to  thrust  their  opponents  through 
the  body.  The  horsemen  were  to  charge  at  half  speed,  with 
their  lances  aimed  at  the  eyes  of  the  Indians.  The  artillery, 
the  arquebusiers,  and  crossbowmen,  were  to  support  one  an- 
other, some  loading  while  others  discharged  their  pieces,  tliat 
there  should  be  an  unintennitted  firing  kept  up  through  the 
action.  Above  all,  they  were  to  maintain  their  ranks  close  and 
unbroken,  as  on  this  depended  their  preservation. 

They  had  not  advanced  a  quarter  of  a  league,  when  they  came 
in  sight  of  the  Tlascalan  army.  Its  dense  array  stretched  far 
and  wide  over  a  vast  plain  or  meadow  ground,  about  six  miles 
square.  Its  appearance  justified  the  report  which  had  been 
given  of  its  numbers.''^  Nothing  could  be  more  picturesque  than 
the  aspect  of  these  Indian  battalions,  with  the  naked  bodies  of 
the  common  soldiers  gaudily  painted,  the  fantastic  helmets  of 
the  chiefs  glittering  with  gold  and  precious  stones,  and  the 
glowing  panoplies  of  feather-work,  which  decorated  their  per- 
sons.'    Innumerable    spears    and    darts    tipped    with    points  of 

*Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana,  ]).  52. — Txtlilxochitl.  ITist.  Chich., 
MS,  cap.  83. — Gomara,  Cronica,  cap.  46.47. — ( )viedo,  1  li?t.  <\i:  las  Iml., 
M.S.,  lib.  33,  cap.  3. — Bernal  Diaz,  ITi:^t.  de  la  Concjuista,  cap.  64. 

*  Through  the  mac;nifving  lens  of  Cortes,  they  ajipeanui  to  he  150,000  nv^nj 
(Rel.  Seg.,  ap.  Lorenzana,  p.  52;)  a  number  u'suallv  jKclerrcd  by  succeeding 
writers. 

«"  Not  half  so  gorgeous,  for  their  May-d.iy  mirth 
All  wreathed  aid  rihandcd,  our  ycmtli-.  and  maids, 
Ai  these  stern  Thiscalans  in  war  attire  ! 
'fhe  golden  f;Iitfi-rancti,  and  the  fcalhrr-mail 
More  ^ay  than  plitlering  uold  ;  and  round  the  beloi 
A  coronal  of  hiKli  upstanding  plumes, 
Green  as  the  spring  grans  in  a  sunny  shower  ; 
Or  ?(,arict  briglit,  .is  ii.  the  wii.'.iy  wood 


tgS  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

transparent  itztli,  or  fiery  copper,  sparkled  bright  in  the  morning 

sun,  like  the  phosphoric  gleams  playing  on  the  surface  of  a 
troubled  sea,  while  the  rear  of  the  mighty  host  was  dark  with 
the  shadows  of  banners,  on  which  were  emblazoned  the  armorial 
bearings  of  the  great  Tlascalan  and  Otomie  chieftains/  Among 
these,  the  white  heron  on  the  rock,  the  cognizance  of  the  house 
of  Xicotencatl,  was  conspicuous,  and,  still  more,  the  golden 
eagle  with  outspread  wings,  in  the  fashion  of  a  Roman  signum, 
richly  ornamented  with  emeralds  and  silver-work,  the  great 
standard  of  the  republic  of  Tlascala.* 

The  common  file  wore  no  covering  except  a  girdle  round  the 
loins.  Their  bodies  were  painted  with  the  appropriate  colors 
of  the  chieftain  whose  banner  they  followed.  The  feather-mail 
of  the  higher  class  of  warriors  exhibited,  also,  a  similar  selec- 
tion of  colors  for  the  like  object,  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
color  of  the  tartan  indicates  the  peculiar  clan  of  the  Highlander.* 
The  cacique  and  principal  warriors  were  clothed  in  a  quilted 
cotton  tunic,  two  inches  thick,  which,  fitting  close  to  the  body, 
protected,  also,  the  thighs  and  the  shoulders.  Over  this  the 
wealthier  Indians  wore  cuirasses  of  thin  gold  plate,  or  silver. 
Their  legs  were  defended  by  leathern  boots  or  sandals,  trimmed 

The  clustered  holly;  or  of  purple  tint ; 
Whereto  shall  that  be  likened?  to  what  gem 
Indiademed,  what  flower,  what  Insect's  wing  ? 
With  war  songs  and  wild  music  they  came  on  ; 
We,  the  while  kneeling,  raised  with  one  accord 
The  hymn  of  supplication." 

SouTHKv's  Madoc,  Part  i,  canto  j, 

^  The  standards  of  the  Mexicans  were  carried  in  the  centre,  those  of  the 
Tlascalans  in  the  rear  of  the  army.  (Clavigero,  Stor.  del  Messico,  vol.  II. 
p.  145.)  According  to  the  Anonymous  Conqueror,  the  banner  staff  was 
attached  to  the  back  of  the  ensign,  so  that  it  was  impossible  to  be  torn  away. 
"  Ha  ogni  copagnia  il  suo  Alfiere  con  la.  sua  insegna  inliastata,  et  in  tal  modo 
ligata  sopra  el  spalle,  che  non  gli  da  alcun  disturbo  di  poter  combattere  ne 
far  cio  che  vuole,  et  la  porta  cosi  ligata  bene  al  corpo.  che  se  no  fanno  del 
suo  corpo  pezzi,  non  se  gli  puo  slig:ire,  ne  torgliela  mai."  Rel.  d'  un  gent., 
ap.  Ramusio,  tom.  III.  fol.  305. 

^  Camargo,  Hist,  de  Tlascala,  MS. — Herrera,  Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  6, 
cap.  6. — Gomara,  Cronica,  cap.  46. — Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap. 
64.— Oviedo,  Hist  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  33,  cap.  45. 

The  two  last  authors  si)eak  of  the  device  of  '•  a  white  bird  like  an  ostrich," 
as  that  of  the  republic.  They  have  evidently  confounded  it  with  that  of  th« 
Indian  general.  Camargo,  who  has  given  the  heraldic  emblems  of  the  four 
great  families  of  Tlascala,  notices  the  white  heron,  as  that  of  Xicotencatl. 

■*  The  accounts  of  the  Tlascalan  chronicler  are  confirmed  by  the  Anf>ny- 
mous  Conqueror  and  bv  Bernal  Diaz,  both  eye-witnesses;  though  the  latter 
frankly  declares,  that,  had  he  not  seen  them  with  his  own  eyes,  he  should 
never  have  credited  the  existence  of  orders  and  badges  among  the  barba. 
rians,  like  those  found  among  the  civilized  nations  of  Europe.  Hist,  de  la 
Conquista,  cap.  64,  et  alibi.— Camargo,  Hist,  de  Tlascala.  MS. — Kel.  d'  us 
gent,  ap.  Ramusio,  tom.  III.  fol.  305. 


DECISIVE  VICTORY. 


297 


with  gold.  But  the  most  brilliant  part  of  their  costume  was  a 
rich  mantle  of  Xho. plumaje  or  feather-work,  embroidered  with 
curious  art,  and  furnishing  some  resemblance  to  the  gorgeous 
surcoat  worn  by  the  European  knight  over  his  armor  in  the 
Middle  Ages.  This  graceful  and  picturesque  dress  was  sur- 
mounted by  a  fantastic  head-piece  made  of  wood  or  leather,  rep- 
resenting the  head  of  some  wild  animal,  and  frequently  dis- 
playing  a  formidable  array  of  teeth.  With  this  covering  the 
warrior's  head  was  enveloped,  producing  a  most  grotesque  and 
hideous  effect.^  From  the  crown  hoated  a  splendid  panache  of 
the  richly  variegated  plumage  of  the  tropics,  indicating,  by  its 
form  and  colors,  the  rank  and  family  of  the  wearer.  To  com- 
plete their  defensive  armor,  ihey  carried  shields  or  targets, 
made  sometimes  of  wood  covered  with  leather,  but  more  usually 
of  a  light  frame  of  reeds  quilted  with  cotton,  which  were  preferred, 
as  lougher  and  less  liable  to  fracture  than  the  ioriner.  They 
had  oiher  bucklers,  in  which  the  cotton  was  covered  with  an 
elastic  substance,  enabling  them  to  be  shut  up  in  a  more  com- 
pact form  like  a  fan  or  umbrella.  These  shields  were  decorated 
with  showy  ornaments,  according  to  the  taste  or  wealth  of  the 
wearer,  and  fringed  with  a  beautiful  pendant  of  feather- 
work. 

T':v_'ir  weapons  were  slings,  bow  and  arrows,  javelins,  and  darts. 
TiVjy  were  accumplished  archers,  and  would  discharge  two  or 
even  three  arrows  at  a  time.  But  they  most  excelled  in  throw- 
ing the  javelin.  One  species  of  this,  wiih  a  thong  a::ached  to 
it,  which  remained  in  the  slinger's  hand,  thai  he  might  recall 
the  weapon,  was  especially  dreaded  by  the  Sjxiniards.  These 
various  weapons  were  pointed  with  bone,  or  ihe  mineral  itzili, 
(obsidian,)  the  hard  vitreous  substance,  already  noticed,  as 
capable  of  taking  an  edge  like  a  razor,  though  easily  blunted. 
'I'heir  spears  and  arrows  were  also  frequently  headed  with 
copper.  Instead  of  a  sword,  they  bore  a  two-handed  statf, 
about  three  feet  and  a  half  long,  in  which,  at  regular  dis- 
stances,  were  inserted,  transversely  shaip  blades  of  itztii,—'x 
formidable  weapon,  wiiich,  an  eve-wiiuess  assures  us,  he  had 
seen  fell  a  horse  at  a  blow.^^ 

'''"  Portano  in  testa,"  savs  the  Anonvmous  Conf|ucror,  ''per  (iife^^a  una 
cosa  come  teste  di  serpeti,  o  di  tiuii,  u  di  leiJiii,  o  tli  lupi,  che  ha  le  luasceiJe, 
«-t  0  :a  ^c^la  dell'  liuuino  messa  nella  te>l,i  di  qsto  aTiiniale  C'jiiie  se  lo  volease 
(i.uKrare;  ^i>\\n  di  legno,  et  so])ra  vi  t  ia  pC;ia,  et  di  piasira  d' oro  et  di 
j-'ietre  preciose  copte,  che  e  cosa  niarauigliosa  da  vedere."  Kcl.  d'  un  gent., 
ap.  Ramusio,  torn.  III.  fol.  305. 

'■  '■  lo  viddi  ciie  co])attedosi  un  di,  dicdc  un  Indiano  una  cortellata  a  un 
rauallo  sopra  ii  qual  era  uu  caualiiero  co  clii  cobatteua,  nei  petto,  che  giieio 
aparse  fin  alle  iteriora,  et  cadde  icdtanciw  inorto,  et  il  medesimo  giorno  viddi 


jo8  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

Such  wcs  Uie  costume  of  the  Tlascalan  warrior,  and,  indeed, 
of  that  great  family  of  nations  generally,  who  occupied  the 
plateau  of  Anahuac.  Some  parts  of  it,  as  the  targets  and  the 
cotton  mail  or  escauple,  as  it  was  called  in  Castilian,  were  so  ex- 
cellent,  that  they  were  subsequently  adopted  by  the  Spaniards, 
as  equally  effectual  in  the  wa}-  of  protection,  and  superior,  on 
the  score  of  lightness  and  convenience,  to  their  own.  They 
were  of  sufficient  strength  to  turn  an  arrow,  or  the  stroke  of  a 
javelin,  although  impotant  as  a  defence  against  fire-arms.  But 
what  armor  is  not  ?  Yet  it  is  probably  no  exaggeration  to  say, 
that,  in  convenience,  gracefulness,  and  strength  the  arms  of  the 
Indian  warrior  were  not  very  inferior  to  those  of  the  polished 
nations  of  antiquity.^" 

As  soon  as  the  Castilians  came  in  sight,  the  Tlascalans  set  up 
their  yell  of  defiance,  rising  high  above  the  wild  barbaric 
ministrelsy  of  shell,  atabal,  and  trumpet,  with  which  they  pro- 
claimed their  triumphant  anticipations  of  victory  over  the  paltry 
forces  of  the  invaders.  When  the  latter  had  come  within  bow- 
shot, the  Indians  hurled  a  tempest  of  missiles,  that  darkened 
the  sun  for  a  moment  as  with  a  passing  cloud,  strewing  the  earth 
around  with  heaps  of  stones  and  arrows.  Slowly  and  steadily 
the  little  band  of  Spaniards  held  on  its  way  amidst  this  arrowy 
shower,  until  it  had  reached  what  appeared  the  proper  distance 
for  delivering  its  fire  with  full  effect.  Cortes  then  halted,  and, 
hastily  forming  his  troops,  opened  a  general  well-directed  fire 
along  the  whole  line.  Every  shot  bore  its  errand  of  death  ; 
and  the  ranks  of  the  Indians  were  mowed  down  faster  than  their 
comrades  in  the  rear  could  carry  off  their  bodies,  according  to 
custom,  from  the  field.  The  balls  in  their  passage  through  the 
crowded  files,  bearing  splinters  of  the  broken  harness,  and 
mangled  limbs  of  the  warriors,  scattered  havoc  and  desolation 
in  their  path.  The  mob  of  barbarians  stood  petrified  with  dis- 
may, till,  at  length,  galled  to  desperation  by  their  intolerable 
suffering,  they  poured  forth  simultaneously  their  hideous  war- 
sliriek,  and  rushed  impetuously  on  the  Christians. 

On  they  came  like  an  avalanche,  or  mountain  torrent,  shaking 

eh«  un  altro  Indiano  diede  un  altra  cortellata  a  un  altro  caual^o  su  il  collo 
che  se  lo  getto  morto  a  i  piedi.'  Rel  d'  un  gent.,  ap.  Ramusio,  torn.  III. 
£ol.  305. 

'■^  Particular  notices  of  the  military  dress  and  appointments  of  the  Ameri- 
can tribes  on  the  plateau  mav  be  found  in  the  Camargo,  Hist,  de  Tlascala, 
MS., — Clavigero,  Stor.  del  Messico,  torn.  II.  p.  loi,  et  seq., — Acosta,  lib. 
6,  cap.  26, — Rel.  d'  un  gent.,  ap.  Ramusio,  torn.  III.  fol.  305,  et  auct.  al. 

18  "  Que  granizo  de  piedra  de  los  honderos  I  Pues  flechas  todo  el  suelo 
hecho  parva  de  varas  todas  de  a  dos  galos,  que  passan  qualquiera  arma,  y 
las  entranas  adonde  no  ay  defensa. "  Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista, 
•ap.  6s. 


DECISIVE   VICTORY.  299 

the  solid  earth,  and  sweeping  away  every  obstacle  in  its  path 
The  little  army  of  Spaniards  opposed  a  bold  front  to  the  over, 
elming  mass.  But  no  strength  cowld  withstand  it.  They 
altered,  gave  way,  were  borne  along  before  it,  and  their  rank 
were  broken  and  thrown  into  disorder.  It  was  in  vain  the 
general  called  on  them  to  close  again  and  rally.  His  voice  was 
drowned  by  the  din  of  tight  and  the  fierce  cries  of  the  assailants. 
For  a  moment,  it  seemed  that  all  was  lost.  The  tide  of  battle 
had  turned  against  them,  and  the  fate  of  the  Christians  was 
sealed. 

But  every  man  had  that  within  his  bosom,  which  spoke  louder 
than  the  voice  of  the  general.  Despair  gave  unnatural 
energy  to  his  arm.  The  naked  body  of  the  Indian  afforded 
no  resistance  to  the  sharp  Toledo  steel;  and  with  their  good 
swords,  the  Spanish  infantry  at  length  succeeded  m  staying 
the  human  torrent.  The  heavy  guns  from  a  distance  thundered 
on  the  flank  of  the  assailants,  which,  shaken  by  the  iron  tem- 
pest, was  thrown  into  disorder.  Their  very  numbers  increased 
the  confusion,  as  they  were  precipitated  on  the  masses  in  front. 
The  horse  at  the  same  moment,  charging  gallantly  under  Cortes, 
followed  up  the  advantage,  and  at  length  compelled  the  tumul- 
tuous throng  to  fall  back  with  greater  precipitation  and  disorder 
than  that  with  which  they  had  advanced. 

More  than  once  in  the  course  of  the  action,  a  similar  assault 
was  attempted  by  the  Tlascalans,  but  each  time  with  less  spirit, 
and  greater  loss.  They  were  too  deficient  in  military  science 
to  profit  by  their  vast  superiority  in  number.  They  were  dis- 
tributed into  companies,  it  is  true,  each  serving  under  its  own 
chieftain  and  banner.  But  they  were  not  arranged  by  rank  and  file 
and  moved  in  a  confused  mass,  promiscuously  heaped  together. 
They  knew  not  how  to  concentrate  numbers  on  a  given  point,  or 
even  how  to  sustain  an  assault,  by  employing  successive  detach- 
ments to  support  and  relieve  one  another.  A  very  small  part 
only  of  their  array  could  be  brought  into  contact  with  an  enemy 
inferior  to  them  in  amount  of  forces.  The  remainder  of  the  armv, 
inactive  and  worse  than  useless,  in  the  rear,  served  only  to  press 
tumultuously  on  the  advance  and  embarrass  its  movements  by 
mere  weight  of  number,  wliile  on  the  least  alarm,  they  were 
seized  with  a  panic  and  tlirew  the  whole  body  into  inextricable 
confusion.  It  was,  in  sliDrt,  the  combat  of  the  ancient  Greeks 
and  Persians  o\er  again. 

Siill,  tlie  great  numerical  superiority  of  the  Indians  might 
have  enabled  them,  at  a  severe  cost  of  their  own  lives,  indeed, 
to  wear  out,  in  time,  the  constancy  of  the  Spaniards,  disabled  by 
wounds  and    incessant  fatigue.     But,  fortunately  for  the  latter, 


300 


MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 


dissensions  arose  among  their  enemies.  A  Tlascalan  chieftain, 
commanding  one  of  the  great  divisions,  had  taken  umbrage  at 
the  haughty  demeanor  of  Xicotencatl,  who  had  charged  him  with 
misconduct  or  cowardice  in  the  late  action.  The  injured  ca- 
cique challenged  his  rival  to  single  combat.  This  did  not  take 
place.  Bui,  burning  with  resentment,  he  chose  the  present 
occasion  to  indulge  it,  by  drawing  off  his  forces,  amounting  to 
ten  thousand  men,  from  the  field.  He  also  persuaded  another 
of  the  commanders  to  follow  his  example. 

Thus  reduced  to  about  half  his  original  strength,  and  that 
greatly  crippled  by  the  losses  of  the  day,  Xicotencatl  could  no 
longer  maintain  his  ground  against  the  Spaniards.  After  dis- 
puting the  field  with  admirable  courage  for  four  hours,  he  re- 
treated and  resigned  it  to  the  enemy.  The  Spaniards  were  too 
much  jaded,  and  too  many  were  disabled  by  wounds,  to  allow, 
them  to  pursue ;  and  Cortes,  satisfied  with  the  decisive  victory 
he  had  gained,  returned  in  triumph  to  his  position  on  the  hill 
of  Tzompach. 

The  number  of  killed  in  his  own  ranks  had  been  very  small, 
notwithstanding  the  severe  loss  inflicted  on  the  enemy.  These 
few  he  was  careful  to  bury  where  they  could  not  be  discovered, 
anxi(?us  to  conceal  not  only  the  amount  of  the  slain,  but  the  fact 
that  the  whites  were  mortal.  But  very  many  of  the  men  were 
wounded,  and  all  the  horses.  The  trouble  of  the  Spaniards  was 
much  enhanced  by  the  want  of  many  articles  important  to  them 
in  their  present  exigency.  They  had  neither  oil,  nor  salt,  which, 
as  before  noticed,  was  not  to  be  obtained  in  Tlascala.  Their 
clothing,  accommodated  to  a  softer  climate,  was  ill  adapted  to 
the  rude  air  of  the  mountains ;  and  bows  and  arrows,  as  Bernal 
Diaz  sarcastically  remarks,  formed  an  indifferent  protection 
against  the  inclemency  of  the  weather. 

Still,  they  had  much  to  cheer  them  in  the  events  of  the  day  ; 
and  they  might  draw  from   them  a  reasonable  ground  for  con- 

^*  So  says  Bernal  Diaz;  who,  at  the  same  time,  by  the  epithets,  los  muertos^ 
ios  cuerpos,  plainly  contradicts  his  previous  boast  that  only  one  Christian 
fell  in  the  fight.  (liist.  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  65.)  Corte's  has  not  the  grace 
to  acknowledge  that  one. 

ifi  Oviedo,  llist.  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  33,  cap.  3. — Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes, 
ap.  Lorenzana,  p.  52. — Herrera.  TTist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  6,  cap.  6.— Ixtlil- 
xochtil,  Hist.  Chich  ,  MS.,  cap.  83. — GomaraCronica,  cap.  46. — Torquemada, 
Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  4,  cap.  32. — Bernal  Diaz.  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  65, 
66 

The  warm,  chivalrous  glow  of  feeling,  which  color<;  the  rude  composition 
of  the  last  chronicler,  makes  him  a  better  painter  t'  .  his  more  correct  and 
classical  rivals.  And,  if  there  is  somewhat  too  mi -U  of  the  self-complacent 
tone  of  the  quorum  fars  ma^na  fui  in  his  writing,  it  may  be  pardoned  in  th© 
hero  of  more  than  a  hunfirecl  battles,  and  almost  as  many  wounds. 


NIGHT  attack: 


301 


fidence  in  their  own  resources,  such  as  no  other  experience  could 
have  supplied.  Not  that  the  results  could  authorize  anything 
like  contempt  for  their  Indian  foe.  Singly  and  with  the  same 
weapons,  he  might  have  stood  his  ground  against  the  Spaniard.'* 
But  the  success  of  the  day  established  the  superiority  of  science 
and  discipline  over  mere  physical  courage  and  numbers.  It 
was  fighting  over  again,  as  we  have  said,  the  old  battle  of  the 
European  and  the  Asiatic.  But  the  handful  of  Greeks  who  rout- 
ed the  ho6ts  of  Xerxes  and  Darius,  it  must  be  remembered, 
had  not  so  obvious  an  advantage  on  the  score  of  weapons,  as 
was  enjoyed  by  the  Spaniards  in  these  wars.  The  use  of  fire- 
arms gave  an  ascendency  which  cannot  easily  be  estimated  ;  one 
so  great,  that  a  contest  between  nations  equally  civilized,  which 
should  be  similar  in  all  other  respects  to  that  between  the  Span- 
iards and  the  Tlascalans,  would  probably  be  attended  with  a 
similar  issue.  To  all  this  must  be  added  the  effect  produced  by 
the  cavalry.  The  nations  of  Anahuac  had  no  large  domesticated 
animals,  and  were  unacquainted  with  any  beast  of  burden.  Their 
imaginations  were  bewildered,  when  they  beheld  the  strange  ap- 
parition of  the  horse  and  his  rider  moving  in  unison  and  obedient 
to  one  impulse,  as  if  possessed  of  a  common  nature  ;  and  as  they 
saw  the  terrible  animal,  with  his  "neck  clothed  in  thunder," 
bearing  down  their  squadrons  and  trampling  them  in  the  dust, 
no  wonder  they  should  have  regarded  him  with  the  mysterious 
terror  felt  for  a  supernatural  being.  A  very  little  reflection  on 
the  manifold  grounds  of  superiority,  both  moral  and  physical, 
possessed  by  the  Spaniards  in  this  contest,  will  surely  explain 
the  issue,  without  any  disparagement  to  the  courage  or  capacity 
of  their  opponents." 

Cortes,  thinking  the  occasion  favorable,  followed  up  the  im- 
portant blow  he  had  struck  by  a  new  mission  to  the  capital, 
bearing  a  message  of  similar  import  with  that  recently  sent  to  the 
camp.  But  the  senate  was  not  yet  sufficiently  humbled.  The 
late  defeat  caused,  indeed,  general  consternation.  Maxixcatzin, 
one  of  the  four  great  lords  who  presided  over  the  republic,  re 
iterated  with  greater  force  the   arguments  before  urged  by  him 

*'  The  Anonymous  Conqueror  l>ears  emphatic  testimony  to  the  valor  of  the 
Indians,  sjjecifying  instances  in  which  he  had  seen  a  single  warrior  defend 
himself  for  a  long  time  against  two,  three,  and  even  four  Spaniards  !  "  Sono 
Jra  loro  di  valetissimi  huomini  et  che  ossano  morir  ostinatissiniamete.  Et  io 
ho  veduto  un  d'  essi  difendersi  valetmente  da  duoi  caualli  leggieri,  et  un  altro 
da  tre,  et  quattro."     Rel.  d'un  gent.,  aj).  Ramusio,  torn.  III.  fol.  305. 

'"The  appalling  effect  of  the  cavalry  on  the  natives  reminds  one  of  the 
confusion  into  which  the  Roman  legions  were  thrown  by  the  strange  appear- 
ance of  the  elephants  in  their  first  engagements  with  Pyrrhus,  as  told  bj 
Plutarch  in  his  life  of  that  prince. 


302 


MARCH  TO  MEXICO, 


for  embracing  the  proffered  alliance  of  the  strangers.    The  armies 

of  the  state  had  been  beaten  too  often  to  allow  any  reasonable 
hope  of  successful  resistance  ;  and  he  enlarged  on  the  generosity 
shown  by  the  politic  Conqueror  to  his  prisoners, — so  unusual  in 
Anahuac, — as  an  additional  motive  for  alliance  with  men  wh» 
knew  how  to  be  friends  as  well  as  foes. 

But  in  these  views  he  was  overruled  by  the  war-party,  whose 
animosity  was  sharpened,  rather  than  subdued,  by  the  late  dis- 
comfiture. Their  hostile  feelings  were  further  exasperated  by 
the  younger  Xicotencatl,  who  burned  for  an  opportunity  to  re- 
trieve his  disgrace,  and  to  wipe  away  the  stains  which  had  fallen 
for  the  first  time  on  the  arms  of  the  republic. 

In  their  perplexity,  they  called  in  the  assistance  of  the  priests, 
whose  authority  was  frequently  invoked  in  the  deliberations  of 
the  American  chiefs.  The  latter  inquired,  w'ith  some  simplicity, 
of  these  interpreters  of  fate,  whether  the  strangers  were  super- 
natural beings,  or  men  of  flesh  and  blood  like  themselves.  The 
priests,  after  some  consultation,  are  said  to  have  made  the  strange 
answer,  that  the  Spaniards,  though  not  gods,  were  children  of  the 
Sun  ;  that  they  derived  their  strength  from  that  luminary,  and, 
when  his  beams  were  withdrawn,  their  powers  would  also  fail. 
They  recommended  a  night  attack,  therefore,  as  one  which  afford- 
ed the  best  chance  of  success.  This  apparently  childish  re- 
sponse may  have  had  in  it  more  of  cunning  than  credulity.  It 
was  not  improbably  suggested  by  Xicotencatl  himself,  or  by  the 
caciques  in  his  interest,  to  reconcile  the  people  to  a  measure, 
wiiich  was  contrary  to  the  military  usages, — indeed,  it  may  be 
said,  to  the  public  law  of  Anahuac.  Whether  the  fruit  of  artifice 
or  superstition,  it  prevailed  and  the  Tlascalan  general  was  em- 
powered, at  the  head  of  a  detachment  of  ten  thousand  warriors, 
to  try  the  effect  of  an  assault  by  night  on  the  Christian  camp. 

The  affair  was  conducted  with  such  secrecy,  that  it  did  not 
reach  the  ears  of  the  Spaniards.  But  their  general  was  not  one 
who  allowed  himself,  sleeping  or  waking,  to  be  surprised  on  his 
post.  Fortunately,  the  night  appointed  was  illuminated  by  the 
full  beams  of  an  autumnal  moon  ;  and  one  of  the  videttes  perceived 
by  its  light,  at  a  considerable  distance,  a  large  body  of  Indians 
moving  towards  the  Christian  lines.  He  was  not  slow  in  giving 
the  alarm  to  the  garrison. 

The  Spaniards  slept,  as  has  been  said,  with  the^i  arms  by  their 
side  ;  while  their  horses,  picketed  near  them,  stood  ready  saddled, 
with  the  bridle  hanging  at  the  bow.  In  five  minutes,  the  whole 
camp  was  under  arms ;  when  they  beheld  the  dusky  columns 
of  the  Indians  cautiously  advancing  over  the  plain,  their  head* 
just  peering  above  the  tall  maize  with  which  the  land  was   par* 


NEGOTIATIOXS  WITH  THE  ENEMY. 


Z'^l 


dall}'  covered.  Cortes  determined  not  to  abide  the  assault  in  his 
intrenchments,  but  to  sally  out  and  pounce  on  the  enemy  when 
he  had  reached  the  bottom  of  the  hill. 

Slowly  and  stealthily  the  Indians  advanced,  while  the  Chris- 
tian camp,  hushed  in  profound  silence,  seemed  to  them  buried 
in  slumber.  But  no  sooner  had  they  reached  the  slope  of  the 
rising  ground,  than  they  were  astounded  by  the  deep  baitle-cry 
of  the  Spaniards,  followed  by  the  instantaneous  apparition  of  the 
whole  army,  as  they  sallied  forth  from  the  works,  and  poured 
down  the  sides  of  the  hill.  Brandishing  aloft  their  weapons, 
thev  seemed  to  the  troubled  fancies  of  the  Tlascalans,  like  so 
many  spectres  or  demons  hurrying  to  and  fro  in  mid  air,  while 
the  uncertain  light  magnified  their  numbers,  and  expanded  the 
horse  and  his  rider  into  gigantic  and  unearthly  dimensions. 

Scarcely  waiting  the  shock  of  their  enemy,  the  panic-struck 
barbarians  let  off  a  feeble  volley  of  arrows,  and,  offering  no  other 
resistance,  Jied  rapidly  and  tumultuously  across  the  plain.  The 
horse  easily  overtook  the  fugitives,  riding  them  down  and  cut- 
ting them  to  pieces  without  mercy,  until  Cortes,  weary  with 
slaughter.,  called  off  his  men,  leaving  the  field  loaded  with  the 
bloody  trophies  of  victory.'*' 

The  next  day,  the  Spanish  commander,  with  his  usual  policy 
after  a  decisive  blow  had  been  struck,  sent  a  new  embassy  to  the 
Tlascalan  capital.  The  envoys  received  their  instructions  through 
the  interpreter.  Marina.  That  remarkable  woman  had  attracted 
general  admiration  by  the  constancy  and  cheerfulness  with  which 
she  endured  all  the  privations  of  the  camp.  Far  from  betraying 
the  natural  weakness  and  timidity  of  her  sex,  she  had  shrunk 
from  no  hardship  herself,  and  had  done  much  to  fortify  the 
drooping  spirits  of  the  soldiers;  while  her  sympathies,  whenever 
occasion  offered,  had  been  actively  exerted  in  mitigating  the 
calamities  of  her   Indian  countrymen.'"' 

Through  his  faithful  interpreter,  Corids  communicated  the 
terms  of  his  message  to  the  Tlascalan  envoys.  He  made  the  same 
professions  of  amity  as  before,  promising  oblivion  of  all  past  in- 
juries ;  but,  if  this  proffer  were  rejected,  he  would  visit  their 
capital  a  conqueror,   raze  every  house  in  it  to  the  ground,  and 

■■'  Rel,  Seg.  dc  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana,  pp.  53,  54. — Oviedo.  I  list,  de  las 
III'!.,  MS.,  111).  33,  cap.  7. — P.  Martyr,  l)e  ( )rbe  Novo,  dec  2,  cap.  2. — 'rorcpie- 
niada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  4,  cap.  32.  — I  lerrcra,  Hist,  fieneral,  di-c.  2.  lili.  6. 
cap.  8.  —  licriial  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  </on(|uisia,  cap.  66. 

'*  "  Diganios  conu)  Dofia  Marina,  con  ser  iniiger  de  la  tierra,  cpie  cst.uTCD 
tan  varonil  tenia,  cjue  con  oir  cada  dia  que  nos  auian  d**  niatar,  v  onier 
n'l'-stras,  carnesy  auernos  visto  cc-rc.idijs  en  las  batallas  passadas,  v  ([uc  aora 
tod')«  estanaino.s  heridos,  y  dolientes.  jama*  vimo^  !tai|ii(j/,,i  en  c!la,  sino  niuy 
mayor '-fiicMjO  que  de  muger."   Bcriial  Diaz,   Hist,  de  \a  (Jonquisla,  cap.  6* 


304 


MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 


put  every  inhabit-  it  to  the  sword  !  He  then  dismissed  the  ami 
bassadors  with  t.ie  symbolical  presents  of  a  letter  in  one  hand, 
and  an  arrow  in  the  other. 

The  envoys  obtained  respectful  audience  from  the  council  of 
Tlascala,  whom  they  found  plunged  in  deep  dejection  by  theii 
recent  reverses.  The  failure  of  the  night  attack  had  extinguished 
every  spark  of  hope  in  their  bosoms.  Their  armies  had  been 
beaten  again  and  again,  in  the  open  field  and  in  secret  ambush. 
Stratagem  and  courage,  all  their  resources,  had  alike  proved  in- 
effectual against  a  foe  whose  hand  was  never  weary,  and  whose 
eye  was  never  closed.  Nothing  remained  but  to  submit.  They 
selected  four  principal  caciques,  whom  they  intrusted  with  a  mis- 
sion to  the  Christian  camp.  They  were  to  assure  the  strangers 
of  a  free  passage  through  the  country,  and  a  friendly  reception 
in  the  capital.  The  proffered  friendship  of  the  Spaniards  was 
cordially  embraced,  with  many  awkward  excuses  for  the  past. 
The  envoys  were  to  touch  at  the  Tlascalan  camp  on  their  way, 
and  inform  Xicotencatl  of  their  proceedings.  They  were  to  re- 
quire him,  at  the  same  time,  to  abstain  from  all  further  hostili-  • 
ties,  and  to  furnish  the  white  men  with  an  ample  supply  of  pro- 
visions. 

But  the  Tlascalan  deputies,  on  arriving  at  the  quarters  of  that 
chief,  did  not  find  him  in  the  humor  to  comply  with  these  in- 
structions. His  repeated  collisions  with  the  Spaniards,  or,  it 
mav  be,  his  constitutional  courage,  left  him  inaccessible  to  the 
vulgar  terrors  of  his  countrymen.  He  regarded  tiie  strangers 
not  as  supernatural  beings,  but  as  men  like  himself.  The  ani- 
mosity of  a  warrior  had  rankled  into  a  deadly  hatred  from  the 
mortifications  he  had  endured  at  their  hands,  and  his  head  teemed 
with  plans  for  recovering  his  fallen  honors,  and  f(;r  taking  ven- 
geance on  the  invaders  of  his  country.  He  refused  to  disband 
any  of  the  force,  still  formidable,  under  his  command  ;  or  to  send 
supplies  to  the  enemy's  camp.  He  further  induced  the  ambas- 
sadors to  remain  in  his  quarters,  and  relinquish  their  visit  to  the 
Spaniards.  The  latter,  in  consequence,  were  kepi  in  ignorance 
of  the  movements  in  their  favor,  which  had  taken  place  in  the 
Tlascalan  capital.^ 

The  conduct  of  Xicotencatl  is  condemned  by  Castilian  writers, 
as  that  of  a  ferocious  and  sanguinary  barbarian.  It  is  natural 
they  should  so  regard  it.  But  those,  who  have  no  national  prej- 
udice to  warp  their  judgments,  may  come  to  a  different  conclu- 
sion, they  may  find  much  to  admire  in  that  high,  unconquerable 
spirit,  like  some  prcud    column,  standing  alone  in   its  majesty 

2r*  Ibid.,  cap  67. — Camargo,  Hist,  de  Tlascala,  MS. — Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist. 
Chich..  MS.,  cap.  83. 


KEi^OTIATIOXS   WITH  THE  ENEMY. 


305 


amid  the  fraginents  and  ruins  around  it.  They  may  see  evi- 
dences of  a  clear-sighted  sagacity,  which,  piercing  the  ihin  veil 
of  insidious  friendship  proiiered  by  the  Spaniards,  and  penetrat- 
ing the  future,  discerned  the  coming  miseries  of  his  country  ; 
the  noble  patriotism  of  one  who  would  rescue  that  country  at  any 
cost,  and,  amidst  the  gathering  darkness,  would  infuse  his  own 
intrepid  spirit  into  the  hearts  of  his  nation,  to  animate  them  to  " 
last  struggle  for  independence. 


$o6 


MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Discontents  in  the  Army. — Tlascalan  Spies. — Peace  with 
THE  Republic. — Embassy  from  Montezuma. 

1519- 

Desirous  to  keep  up  the  terror  of  the  Castilian  name,  by 
leaving  the  enemy  no  respite,  Cortes,  on  the  same  day  that  he 
despatched  the  embassy  to  Tlascala,  put  himself  at  the  head  of 
a  small  corps  of  cavalry  and  light  troops  to  scour  the  neighbor- 
ing country.  He  was  at  that  time  so  ill  from  fever,  aided  by, 
medical  treatment,^  that  he  could  hardly  keep  his  seat  in  the 
saddle.  It  was  a  rough  country,  and  the  sharp  winds  from  the 
frosty  summits  of  the  mountains  pierced  the  scanty  covering  of 
the  troops,  and  chilled  both  men  and  horses.  Four  or  five  of 
the  animals  gave  out,  and  the  general,  alarmed  for  their  safety, 
sent  them  back  to  the  camp.  The  soldiers,  discouraged  by  this 
ill  omen,  would  have  persuaded  him  to  return.  But  he  made 
answer,  "  We  fight  under  the  banner  of  the  Cross;  God  is 
stronger  than  nature,"^  and  continued  his  march. 

It  led  through  the  same  kind  of  checkered  scenery  of  rugged 
hill  and  cultivated  plain  as  that  already  described,  well  covered 
with  towns  and  villages,  some  of  them  the  frontier  posts  occu- 
pied by  the  Otomies.  Practising  the  Roman  maxim  of  lenity  to 
the  submissive  foe,  he  took  full  vengeance  on  those  who  resisted, 
and,  as  resistance  too  often  occurred,  marked  his  path  with  fire 
and  desolation.  After  a  short  absence,  he  returned  in  salel}-, 
laden  with  the  plunder  of  a  successful  foray.  It  would  have 
been  more  honorable  to  him,  had  it  been  conducted  with  less 
rigor.  The  excesses  are  imputed  by  Bernal  Diaz  to  the  Indian 
allies,  whom  in   the   heat   of  victory  it   was  found  impossible  to 

^  The  effect  of  the  medicine — though  rather  a  severe  dose,  according  to 
the  precise  Diaz — was  suspended  during  the  general's  active  exertions. 
Gomara,  however,  does  not  consider  this  a  miracle.  (Cronica,  cap.  49,) 
Father  Sandoval  does.  (Hist,  de  Carlos  Quinto,  torn.  I  p.  127.)  Solis, 
after  a  conscientious  inquiry  into  this  perplexing  matter,  decides — strange 
M  it  may  seem — against  the  father  1     Conquista,  lib.  2,  cap.  20. 

■  "  Dios  es  sobrc  natura."     Rel.  Seg,  de  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana,  p,  54. 


DISCOXTEXTS  IN  THE  ARMY. 


307 


restrain. 8  On  whose  head  soever  they  fall,  they  seem  to  have 
given  little  uneasiness  to  the  general,  who  declares  in  his  letter 
to  the  Emperor  Charles  the  Fifth,  "  As  we  fought  under  the 
standard  of  the  Cross, ^  for  the  true  Faith,  and  the  service  of 
your  Highness,  Heaven  crowned  our  arms  with  such  success, 
that,  while  multitudes  of  the  infidel  were  slain,  little  loss  was 
suffered  by  the  Castilians."  -  The  Spanish  Conquerors,  to 
judge  from  their  writings,  unconscious  of  any  worldly  motive 
lurking  in  the  bottom  of  their  hearts,  regarded  themselves  as 
soldiers  of  the  Church,  fighting  the  great  battle  of  Christianity  ; 
and  in  the  same  edifying  and  comfortable  light  are  regarded  by 
most  of  the  national  historians  of  a  later  cLi}.'^ 

On  his  return  to  the  camp,  Corte's  found  a  new  cause  of  dis- 
quietude in  discontents  which  had  broken  out  among  the  sold- 
iery. Their  patience  was  exhausted  by  a  life  of  fatigue  and 
peril  to  which  there  seemed  to  be  no  end.  The  battles  they  had 
won  against  such  tremendous  odds  h.ici  not  advanced  them  a 
jot.  The  idea  of  their  reaching  Mexico,  sa_\'s  the  old  soldier  so 
often  quoted,  ""  v>  as  treated  as  a  jest  by  :he  whole  army  ;  "  *  and 
the  indefinite  prospect  of  hostilities  with  the  ferocious  people 
among  whom  they  were  now  cast,  threw  a  deep  gloom  over 
their  spirits. 

Among  the  malcontents  were  a  number  of  noisy,  vaporing 
persons,  such  as  are  found  in  every  camp,  who,  like  empty 
bubbles,  are  sure  to  rise  to  the  surface  and  make  tb.emselves 
seen  in  seasons  of  agitation.  They  were,  tor  t.'.e  most  part,  of 
tiie  old  facrion  of  Velasquez,  and  had  estates  in  (Juba,  to  which 
they  t'uined  many  a  wistful  glance  as  they  receded  more  and 
more  from  the  coast.  They  now  waited  on  the  general,  not  in  a 
mutinous  spirit  of  resistance,  (for  they  remembered  the  lesson 
in  Villa  Ric>!.)  but  with  the  design  of  frarik  expostulation,  as 
with    a  brother    adventurer    in  a  common  cause.''     The  tone  of 

^  Hist  de  la  Ctmquibta,  cap.  64. 

Not  so  Cortc--,  \vi:o  saws  IjoMh',  "'  Quciiie  mas  de  dicz  pueblos."  (Tbid. 
p.  52.)  I  {is  reverend  conitnentator  specifies  the  localities  of  the  Indian 
towns  destroyed  liv  him,  in  his  t'oiavs.      \'iaje,  ap.  I.oreiizana,  pp.  ix.-xi. 

^  The  famo'i-  banner  of  the  roiuiucror,  with  the  Cross  emblazoned  on  it, 
ha^  been  preserved  in  Mexico  to  our  day. 

■'  ■'  E  coni.;  ira-.anio>  la  [Saiideia  de  la  Cruz,  y  jiinlabanios  por  niicstra 
Ff",  V  pors^rvirio  de  A'uestra  Sacra  ^Tage,stad.  en  sii  mtiv  Real  \entura  noa 
dio  Dios  tanta  victoria,  'pje  les  matamos  mucha  gente,  sin  que  los  iiuestro* 
rei.ibiessLii  dano."      Rel.  Scg.  de  Cortes,  ap,  Lorenzana,  p.  52. 

■•  "  \'  fue  cosa  notable."  exclaims  Hcrrera,  "cf)ncpianta  humildad,  i  de- 
vocion.  bolvian  todos  alaband')  a  l)ios,  rpie  tan  milagrosas  victorias  lesdal)a; 
de  donne  se   conocia    claro,  que  los    favorecia  con  su  Divina  asistcncia." 

^  "  I'orquc  entrar  rn  Mr-'xico,  teniamoslo  por  cosa  de  risa,  a  causa  de  sub 
grandes  fuer(^as."     liernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  66. 

•  Diaz  indignantly  disclaims  the  idea  of  mutiny,  which  Gomara  attached  to 


3o8  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

familiarity  thus  assumed  was  eminently  characteristic  of  the 
footing  of  equality  on  which  the  parties  in  the  expedition  stood 
with  one  another. 

Their  sufferings,  they  told  him,  were  too  great  to  be  endured. 
All  the  men  had  received  one,  most  of  them,  two  or  three 
wounds.  More  than  fifty  had  perished,  in  one  way  or  another, 
since  leaving  Vera  Cruz.  There  was  no  beast  of  burden  but 
led  a  life  preferable  to  theirs.  For  when  the  night  came,  the 
former  could  rest  from  his  labors  ;  but  they,  fighting  or  watch- 
ing, had  no  rest,  day  nor  night.  As  to  conquering  Mexico,  the 
very  thought  of  it  was  madness.  If  they  had  encountered  such 
opposition  from  the  petty  republic  of  Tlascala,  what  might  they 
not  expect  from  the  great  Mexican  empire  ?  There  was  now  a 
temporary  suspension  of  hostilities.  They  should  avail  them- 
selves of  it,  to  retrace  their  steps  to  Vera  Cruz.  It  is  true,  the 
fleet  there  was  destroyed  ;  and  by  this  act,  unparalleled  for  rash- 
ness even  in  Roman  annals,  the  general  had  become  responsible 
for  the  fate  of  the  whole  army.  Still  there  was  one  vessel  left. 
That  might  be  despatched  to  Cuba,  for  reinforcements  and 
supplies  ;  and,  when  these  arrived,  they  would  be  enabled  to 
resume  operations  with  some  prospect  of  success. 

Cortes  listened  to  this  singular  expostulation  with  perfect 
composure.  He  knew  his  men,  and,  instead  of  rebuke  or 
harsher  measures,  replied  in  the  same  frank  and  soldier-like 
vein  which  they  had  aft'ected. 

There  was  much  truth,  he  allowed,  in  what  they  said.  The 
sufferings  of  the  Spaniards  had  been  great ;  greater  than  those 
recorded  of  any  heroes  in  Greek  or  Roman  story.  So  much 
the  greater  would  be  their  glory.  He  had  often  been  filled  with 
admiration  as  he  had  seen  his  little  host  encircled  by  myriads  of 
barbarians,  and  felt  that  no  people  but  Spaniards  could  have 
triumphed  over  such  formidable  odds.  Nor  could  they,  unless 
the  arm  of  the  Almighty  had  been  over  them.  And  they 
might  reasonably  look  for  his  protection  hereafter  ;  for  was  it 
not  in  his  cause  they  were  fighting  ,''  They  had  encountered 
dangers  and  difficulties,  it  was  true.  But  they  had  not  come 
here  expecting  a  life  of  idle  dalliance  and  pleasure.  Glory,  as 
he  had  told  them  at  the  outset,  was  to  be  won  only  by  toil  and 
danger.  They  would  do  him  the  justice  to  acknowledge,  that 
he  had  never  shrunk  from  his  share  of  both. — This  was  a  truth, 

this  proceeding.  "  Las  palabras  que  le  dezian  era  por  via  de  acSsejarle,  y 
porque  les  pareciaque  eran  bien  dichas  y  no  por  otra  via.  porque  siempre  la 
giguieron  muy  bien,  y  lealmete ;  y  no  es  mucho  que  en  Ijs  ex^rcitos  algiinoa 
buenns  soldados  aconsejen  a  su  Capitan,  y  mas  si  se  ven  tan  trabajados 
Como  nosotros  andauamos."     Ibid.,  cap.  71. 


DISCQXj'EXTS  IX  THE  ARMY.  ^09 

Jidds  the  hunest  chronicler  who  heard  and  reports  the  dialogue, 
which  no  one  could  deny. — But,  if  liiey  had  met  with  hardsiiips, 
he  continued,  they  had  been  everywhere  victorious.  Even  now, 
they  were  enjoying  the  fruits  of  tiiis,  in  the  plenty  which  reigned 
in  the  camp.  Arid  they  would  soon  see  the  Tlascalans,  humbled 
by  their  hue  reverses,  suing  for  peace  on  any  terms.  To  go 
back  now  was  impossible.  The  very  stones  would  rise  up  against 
thtin.  The  Tlascalans  would  hunt  them  in  triumph  down  to 
the  water's  edge.  And  how  would  the  Mexicans  exult  at  this 
miserable  issue  of  their  vainglorious  vaunts  !  Their  former 
friends  would  become  their  enemies  ;  and  the  Totonacs,  to  avert 
the  vengeance  of  the  Aztecs,  from  which  the  Spaniards  could  no 
longer  shield  them,  would  join  in  the  general  cry,  Thcie  was 
nu  alternative,  tlien,  but  to  go  forward  in  tlieir  career.  And  he 
besought  them  to  silence  their  pusillanimous  scruples,  and,  in- 
stead of  turning  their  eyes  toward  Cuba,  to  hx  them  on  Mexico, 
the  great  object  of  their  enterprise. 

While  this  singular  conference  was  going  on,  many  other 
soldiers  had  gathered  round  the  spot ;  and  tlie  discontented 
party,  emboldened  by  the  presence  of  their  comrades,  as  well 
as  by  the  general's  forbearance,  replied,  that  they  were  far 
from  being  convinced.  Another  such  victory  as  the  last  would 
be  their  ruin.  They  were  going  to  Mexico  only  to  be  slaugh- 
tered. Until  at  length,  the  general's  patience  being  exiiausted, 
he  cut  the  argument  short,  by  quoting  a  verse  from  an  old  song, 
/mplying  that  it  was  better  to  die  with  honor,  than  to  live  diy 
graced ;  a  sentiment  which  was  loudly  echoed  by  the  greater 
part  of  his  audience,  who,  notwithstanding  their  occasional  mur- 
murs, had  no  design  to  abandon  the  expedition,  still  less  the 
commander,  to  .vhom  they  were  passionately  deviried.  The 
malcontents,  disconcerted  by  this  rebuke,  slunk  back  to  their 
own  quarters,  muttering  half-smothered  execrations  on  the 
leader  who  had  projected  the  enterprise,  the  Indians  who  had 
guided  him,  and  their  own  countrymen  who  supported  him 
in  it.* 

Such  were  the  difficulties  that  lay  in  the  path  of  Cortes  ,  a 
wily  and  ferocious  enemy;  a  climate  uncertain,  often  unhealthy , 
illness  in  his  own  person,  much  aggravated  by  anxiety  as  to  th* 

'*  This  conference  is  reported,  with  some  variety,  indeed,  by  nearly  every 
.listorian.  (Kel.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  a,o.  I.orcn/.ana,  p.  55. — Ovieda,  Hist,  de  las 
Ind.,  MS.,  lib,  33,  cap.  3. — (iom.ira,  Cronica,  cap.  51,  52. — Ixtliixochitl, 
Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  .So.  —  Ilerrer.i,  Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  111).  6.  ca]\  9. 
—  ['.  Martyr,  De  Orbe  Novo,  dec.  5,  cap.  2.)  I  liavc  abridgei";  The  accounS 
given  by  hernal  Diaz,  one  of  the  audience,  though  not  one  of  t^e  partiL-s  to 
the  dialogue, — for  that  reason,  the  better  authority. 


yo  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

manner  in  which  his  conduct  would  be  received  by  his  sovereign  . 
last,  not  least,  disaffection  among  his  soldiers,  on  whose  con- 
stancy and  union  he  rested  for  the  basis  of  his  operations, — 
the  great  lever  by  which  he  was  to  overturn  the  empire  of 
Montezuma, 

On  the  morning  following  this  event,  the  camp  was  surprised 
by  the  appearance  of  a  small  body  of  Tlascalans,  decorated  with 
badges,  the  white  color  of  which  intimated  peace.  They  brought 
a  quantity  of  provisions,  and  some  trifling  ornaments,  which, 
they  said,  were  sent  by  the  Tlascalan  general,  who  was  weary  ol 
the  war,  and  desired  an  accommodation  with  the  Spaniards. 
He  would  soon  present  himself  to  arrange  this  in  person.  The 
intelligence  diffused  general  joy,  and  the  emissaries  received  a 
friendly  welcome. 

A  day  or  two  elapsed,  and  while  a  few  of  the  party  left  the 
Spanish  quarters,  the  others,  about  fifty  in  number,  who  remain- 
ed, excited  some  distrust  in  the  bosom  of  Marina.  She  com- 
municated her  suspicions  to  Cortes  that  they  were  spies.  He 
caused  several  of  them,  in  consequence,  to  be  arrested,  examined 
separately,  and  ascertained  that  they  were  employed  by 
Xicotencatl  to  inform  him  of  the  state  of  the  Christian 
camp,  preparatory  to  a  meditated  assault,  for  which  he  was 
mustering  his  forces,  Cortes,  satisfied  of  the  truth  of  this,  deter- 
mined to  make  such  an  example  of  the  delinquents,  as  should 
intimidate  his  enemy  from  repeating  the  attempt.  He  ordered 
their  hands  to  be  cut  off,  and  in  that  condition  sent  them  back 
to  their  countrymen,  with  the  message,  "  that  the  Tlascalans 
might  come  by  day  or  night ;  they  would  find  the  Spaniards 
ready  for  them.^'^  " 

The  doleful  spectacle  of  their  comrades  returning  in  this 
mutilated  state  filled  the  Indian  camp  with  horror  and  conster- 
nation. The  haughty  crest  of  their  chief  was  humbled.  From 
that  moment,  he  lost  his  wonted  buoyancy  and  confidence.  His 
goldiers,  filled  with  superstitious  fear,  refused  to  serve 
longer  against  a  foe  who  could  read  their  very  thoughts,  and 
divine  their  plans  before  they  were  ripe  for  execution." 

The  punishment  inflicted  by  Cortds  may  well  shock  the  reader 
by  its  brutality.     But  it  should  be  considered  in  mitigation,  that 

1^  Diaz  says  only  seventeen  lost  their  hands,  the  rest  their  thumbs.  (HisL 
de  la  Conquista,  cap.  70.)  Cortes  does  not  flinch  from  confessing,  the 
hands  of  the  whole  fifty.  '*  Los  mande  tomar  a  todos  cincuenta,  y  cortarles 
las  man(«,  y  los  embi6,  que  dixessen  a  su  Senor,  qu,;  .'e  noche,  v  de  dia,  y 
cada,  y  quando  el  viiiicsse,  verian  quien  eramos."  .'  .el.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap. 
Lorenzana,  p.  53. 

11  *'  De  que  ios  Tlascaltecas  sc  admiraron,  cntendiendo  que  Cortes  Vas  ca 
ICndia  sus  pensamiendos."     i.Ktlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS,,  cap.  Sj. 


TLASCALAX  S'PfES, 


3" 


the  victims  of  it  were  spies,  and,  as  such,  by  the  laws  ofwar, 
whether  among  civilized  or  savage  nations,  had  incurred  the 
penalty  of  death.  The  amputation  of  the  limbs  was  a  milder 
punishment,  and  reserved  for  inferior  offences.  If  we  revolt  at 
the  barbarous  nature  of  the  sentence,  we  should  reflect  that  it 
was  no  uncommon  one  at  that  day  ;  not  more  uncommon,  in- 
deed, than  whipping  and  branding  with  a  hot  iron  were  in  our 
own  country,  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  or  than 
cropping  the  ears  was  in  the  preceding  one.  A  higher  civiliza- 
tion, indeed,  rejects  such  punishments,  as  pernicious  in  them- 
selves, and  degrading  to  humanity.  But  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
they  were  openly  recognized  by  the  laws  of  the  most  polished 
nations  in  Europe.  And  it  is  too  much  to  ask  of  any  man,  still 
less  one  bred  to  the  iron  trade  of  war,  to  be  in  advance 
of  the  retinement  of  his  age.  We  maybe  content,  if,  in  circum- 
stances so  unfavorable  to  humanity,  he  does  not  fall  below  it. 

All  thoughts  of  funher  resistance  being  abandoned,  the  four 
delegates  of  the  Tlascalan  republic  were  now  allowed  to  proceed 
on  their  mission.  They  were  speedily  followed  by  Xicotencatl 
himself,  attended  by  a  numerous  train  of  military  retainers.  As 
they  drew  near  the  Spanish  lines,  they  were  easily  recognized  by 
the  white  and  yellow  colors  of  their  uniforms,  the  livery  of  the 
house  of  Titcala.  The  joy  of  the  army  was  great  at  tliis  sure 
intimation  of  the  close  of  hostilities  ;  and  it  was  with  difficulty  that 
Cortes  was  enabled  to  restore  the  men  to  tranquillity,  and  the 
assumed  indifference  which  it  was  proper  to  maintain  in  presence 
oi  an  enemy. 

The  Spaniards  gazed  with  curious  eye  on  the  valiant  chief  who 
had  so  long  kept  his  enemies  at  bay,  and  who  advanced  with  the 
firm  and  fearless  step  of  one  who  was  coming  rather  to  bid  de- 
finance  tlian  to  sue  for  peace.  He  was  rather  above  the  mid- 
dle size,  with  broad  shoulders,  and  a  muscular  frame  intimating 
great  activity  and  strength.  Mis  head  was  large,  and  his  coun- 
tenance marked  with  the  lines  of  hard  service  rather  than  of  age, 
for  he  was  but  thirty-fne.  When  he  entered  the  presence  of 
Cortes,  he  made  the  usual  salutation,  by  touching  the  ground  with 
his  hand,  and  carrying  it  to  his  head  ;  while  the  sweet  incense  of 
aromatic  gums  rolled  up  in  clouds  from  the  censers  carried  by 
his  slaves. 

Far  from  a  pusillanimous  attempt  to  throw  the  blame  on  the 
senate,  he  assumed  the  whole  responsibility  of  the  war.  He  had 
considered  the  white  men,  he  said,  as  enemies,  for  they  came 
with  the  allies  and  vassals  of  Montezuma.  He  loved  his  coun- 
try, and  wished  to  preserve  the  independence  which  she  had 
maintained  through  her   long   wars   with   (he   Aztecs.     He   had 


212  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

been  beaten.  They  v  ght  be  the  strangers,  who,  it  had  been  so 
long  predicted,  wou.  .  come  from  the  east,  to  take  possession  o! 
the  country.  He  hoped  they  would  use  their  victory  with 
moderation,  and  not  trample  on  the  liberties  of  the  republic. 
He  came  now  in  the  name  of  his  nation,  to  tender  their  obedience 
to  the  Spaniards,  assuring  them  they  would  find  his  countrymen 
as  faithful  in  peace  as  they  had  been  firm  in  war. 

Cortes,  far  from  taking  umbrage,  was  filled  with  admiration  at 
the  lofty  spirit  which  thus  disdained  to  stoop  beneath  misfortunes. 
The  brave  man  knows  how  to  respect  bravery  in  another.  He 
assumed,  however,  a  severe  aspect,  as  he  rebuked  the  chief  for 
having  so  long  persisted  in  hostilities.  Had  Xicotencatl  be- 
lieved the  word  of  the  Spaniards,  and  accepted  their  proffered 
friendship  sooner,  he  would  have  spared  his  people  much  suffer- 
ing, which  they  well  merited  by  their  obstinacy.  But  it  was 
impossible,  continued  the  general,  to  retrieve  the  past.  He  was 
willing  to  bury  it  in  oblivion,  and  to  receive  the  Tlascalans  as 
vassals  to  the  emperor,  his  master.  If  they  proved  true,  they 
should  find  him  a  sure  column  of  support :  if  false,  he  would 
take  such  vengeance  on  them  as  he  had  intended  to  take  on  their 
capital,  had  they  not  speedily  given  in  their  submission. — It 
proved  an  ominous  menace  for  the  chief  to  whom  it  was  ad- 
dressed. 

The  cacique  then  ordered  his  slaves  to  bring  forward  some 
trifling  ornaments  of  gold  and  feather  embroidery,  designed  as 
presents.  They  were  of  little  value,  he  said,  with  a  smile,  for 
the  Tlascalans  were  poor.  They  had  little  gold,  not  even  cotton, 
nor  salt.  The  Aztec  emperor  had  left  them  nothing  but  their 
freedom  and  their  arms.  He  offered  this  gift  only  as  a  token 
of  his  good-will.  "  As  such  I  receive  it,"  answered  Cortes, 
"  and,  coming  from  the  Tlascalans,  set  more  value  on  it,  than  I 
should  from  any  other  source,  though  it  were  a  house  full  of 
gold"; — a  politic,  as  well  as  magnanimous  reply,  for  it 
was  by  the  aid  of  this  good-will,  that  he  was  to  win  the  gold  of 
Mexico. 

Thus  ended  the  bloody  war  with  the  fierce  re})ublic  of 
Tlascala,  during  the  course  of  which,  the  fortunes  of  the  Span- 
iards, more  than  once,  had  trembled  in  the  balance.  Had  it  been 
persevered  in  but  a  little  longer,  it  must  have  ended  in  their 
confusion  and  ruin,  exhausted  as  they  were  by  wounds,  watching, 
and  fatigues,  with  the  seeds  of  disaffection  rankling  among  them- 

^  Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana,  pp.  56,  57. — Oviedo,  Hist,  de  las 
Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  33,  cap.  3. — Goniara,  Croaica,  cap.  53. — Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de 
la  Conquista,  cap.  71,  et  scq. — Sahagun,  Hist.  d»  Nueva  EspaRa,  MS.,  liU 
IS,  cap.  II. 


PEACE   WITH  THE  KETUBLIC. 


Z^l 


selves.  As  it  was,  they  came  out  of  the  fearful  contest  with 
untarnished  glory.  To  the  enemy,  they  seemed  invulnerable, 
bearing  charmed  lives,  proof  alike  against  the  accidents  of 
fortune  and  the  assaults  of  man.  No  wonder  that  they  indulged 
a  similar  conceit  in  their  own  bosoms,  and  that  the  humblest 
Spaniard  should  have  fancied  himself  the  subject  of  a  special 
interposition  of  Providence,  which  shielded  him  in  the  hour  of 
battle,  and  reserved  him  for  a  higher  destiny. 

While  the  Tlascalans  were  still  in  the  camp,  an  embassy  was 
announced  from  Montezuma.  Tidings  of  the  exploits  of  the 
Spaniards  had  spread  far  and  wide  over  the  plateau.  The  em- 
peror, in  particular,  had  watched  every  step  of  their  progress,  as 
they  climbed  the  steeps  of  the  Cordilleras,  and  advanced  over  the 
broad  table-land,  on  their  summit.  He  had  seen  them,  with 
great  satisfaction,  take  the  road  to  Tlascala,  trusting,  that,  if 
they  were  mortal  men,  they  would  find  their  graves  there.  Great 
was  his  dismay,  when  courier  after  courier  brought  him  intelli- 
gence of  their  successes,  and  that  the  most  redoubtable  warriors 
on  the  plateau  had  been  scattered  like  chaff,  by  the  swords  o' 
this  handful  of  strangers. 

His  superstitious  fears  returned  in  full  force.  He  saw  in 
the  Spaniards  "  the  men  of  destiny,"  who  were  to  take  posses- 
sion of  his  sceptre.  In  his  alarm  and  uncertainty,  he  sent  a 
new  embassy  to  the  Christian  camp.  It  consisted  of  five  great 
nobles  of  his  court,  attended  by  a  train  of  two  hundred  slaves. 
They  brought  with  them  a  present,  as  usual,  dictated  partly  by 
fear,  and,  in  part,  b\'  the  natural  munificence  of  his  disposition. 
It  consisted  of  three  thousand  ounces  of  gold,  in  grains,  or  in 
various  manufactured  articles,  with  several  hundred  mantles  and 
dresses  of  embroidered  cotton,  and  the  picturesque  feather-work. 
As  they  laid  these  at  the  feet  of  Cortds,  they  told  him  they  had 
come  to  offer  the  congratulations  of  their  master  on  the  late  victo 
ries  of  the  white  men.  The  emperor  only  regretted  that  it  would 
not  be  in  his  power  to  receive  them  in  his  capital,  where  the  numer- 
ous population  was  so  unruly,  that  their  safety  would  be  placed  in 
jeopardy.  The  mere  intimation  of  the  Aztec  emperor's  wishes,  in 
the  most  distant  way.  would  have  sufiiced  with  the  Indian  nations. 
It  had  very  little  weight  with  the  Spaniards;  and  the  envoys, 
finding  this  puerile  expression  of  them  incfTcctual,  resorted  to 
another  aignment,  offering  a  tribute  in  their  master's  name  to 
the  Castilian  sovereign,  provided  the  Spaniards  would  relinquish 
their  visit  to  his  capital.  This  was  a  greater  error  ;  it  was  dis- 
playing the  rich  casket  with  one  hand,  which  he  was  unable  to 
defend  with  the  other.  Yet  the  author  of  this  pusillanimous 
policy,  the  unhappy  victim   of  superstition,  was  a  monarch  re« 


^,  .  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

Downed  among  the  Ti.Iian  nations  for  his  intrepidity  and  enter 
prise, — the  terror  of  Anahuac  ! 

Cortds,  while  he  urged  his  own  sovereign's  commands  as  a 
reason  for  disregarding  the  wishes  of  Montezuma,  uttered  ex- 
pressions of  the  most  profound  respect  for  the  Aztec  prince,  and 
declared  tliat  if  he  had  not  the  means  of  requiting  his  munifi- 
cence, as  he  could  wish,  at  present,  he  trusted  to  repay  hifn, 
at  some  future  day,  with  good  works  !  ^ 

The  Mexican  ambassadors  were  not  much  gratified  with  find- 
ing the  war  at  an  end,  and  a  reconciliation  established  between 
their  mortal  enemies  and  the  Spaniards.  The  mutual  disgust  of 
the  two  parties  with  each  other  was  too  strong  to  be  repressed 
even  in  the  presence  of  the  general,  who  saw  with  satisfaction 
the  evidences  of  a  jealousy,  which,  undermining  the  strength  of 
the  Indian  emperor,  was  to  prove  the  surest  source  of  his  own 
success.^* 

Two  of  the  Aztec  mission  returned  to  Mexico,  to  acquaint 
their  sovereign  with  the  state  of  affairs  in  the  Spanish  camp. 
The  others  remained  with  the  army,  Cortes  being  willing  that 
they  should  be  personal  spectators  of  the  deference  shown  him 
by  the  Tlascalans.  Still  he  did  not  hasten  his  departure  for 
their  capital.  Not  that  he  placed  reliance  on  the  injurious 
intimations  of  the  Mexicans  respecting  their  good  faith.  Yet 
he  was  willing  to  put  this  to  some  longer  trial,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  to  reestablish  his  own  health  more  thoroughly,  before 
his  visit.  Meanwhile,  messengers  daily  arrived  from  the  city, 
pressing  his  journey,  and  were  finally  followed  by  some  of  the 
aged  rulers  of  the  republic,  attended  by  a  numerous  retinue, 
impatient  of  his  long  delay.  They  brought  with  them  a  body  of 
rive  hundred  tamanes,  or  men  of  iurden,  to  drag  his  cannon,  and 
relieve  his  own  forces  from  this  fatiguing  part  of  their  duty.  It 
was  impossible  to  defer  his  departure  longer ;  and  after  mass, 
and  a  solemn  thanksgiving  to  the  great  Being  who  had  crowned 
their  arms  with  triumph,  the  Spaniards  bade  adieu  to  the 
quarters  which  they  had  occupied  for  nearly  three  weeks  on  the 
bill  of  Tzompach.   The  strong  tower,  or  teocalli,  which  commandec 

J8  "Cortes  recibio  con  akgri'a  aquel  presente,  y  dixo  que  sc  lo  tenia  en 
merced,  y  que  el  lo  pagaria  al  senor  Montefuma  en  buenas  obras."  Bemal 
Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  73. 

^*  He  dwells  on  it  in  his  letter  to  the  Emperor,  "  Vista  la  discordia  y  de»- 
uDnformidad  de  los  unos  y  de  los  otros,  no  huve  poco  placer,  porque  me  par 
ecio  hacer  mucho  k  mi  proposito,  y  que  podria  tener  manera  de  mas  ayna 
sojuzgarlos,  ^  aun  acord^me  de  una  autoridad  Evang^lica,  que  dice :  Omnt 
Rtgnum  in  seipsum  divesum  desolabitur :  y  con  los  unos  y  cc«i  l«s  otros  man  ■ 
eaba,  y  k  cadauno  en  secrete  le  agradecia  el  aviso,  que  me  daba,  y  la  daba 
cr^dito  de  mas  amistad  que  al  otro."    Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortw,  ^>.  Lorenzana,  p.  61 


EMBASSY  FROM  MONTEZUMA. 


315 


it  was  called,  in  commemoration  of  their  residence,  "  the  tower  of 
victory  "  ;  and  the  few  stones,  which  still  survive  of  its  ruins, 
point  out  to  the  eye  of  the  traveller  a  spot  ever  memorable  in 
history  for  the  courage  and  constancy  of  the  early  Conquerors. 

^  Ilerrera,  Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  6,  caji.  10. — Oviedo,  Hist,  de  las 
Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  y^,  cap.  4. — Gomara,  Cionica,  cap.  54. — Martyr,  De  Orbe 
Novo,  dec.  5,  cap.  2. — Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  72-74. — Ix- 
tlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  83. 


3i6  MARCH  TO  MEXICO, 


CHAPTER  V. 


Spaniards  enter  Tlascala. — Description  of  the  Capital.— 
Attempted  Conversion. — Aztec  Embassy. — Invited  t» 
Cholula. 

The  ciiy  of  Tlascala,  ihe  capiiai  of  the  republic  of  the  same 
name,  lay  at  the  distance  of  about  six  leagues  from  tlie  Spanish 
camp.  The  road  led  inio  a  hilly  region,  exhibiting  in  every 
arable  patch  of  ground  the  evidence  of  laborious  cultivation. 
Over  a  deep  barranca,  or  ravine,  they  crossed  on  a  bridge  of 
stone,  which,  according  to  tradition, — a  slippery  authority, — is 
the  same  still  standing,  and  was  constructed  originally  for  the 
passage  of  the  army.-^  They  passed  some  considerable  towns 
on  their  route,  where  they  experienced  a  full  measure  of  Indian 
hospitality.  As  they  advanced,  the  approach  to  a  populous  city 
was  intimated  by  the  crowds  who  flocked  out  to  see  and  welcome 
the  strangers ;  men  and  women  in  their  picturesque  dress,  with 
bunches  and  wreaths  of  roses,  which  they  gave  to  the  Spaniards, 
or  fastened  to  the  necks  and  caparisons  of  their  horses,  in  the 
same  manner  as  at  Cempoaila.  Priests,  with  their  white  robes, 
and  long  malted  tresses  floating  over  them,  mingled  in  the  crowd, 
scattering  volumes  of  incense  from  their  burning  censers.  In 
this  way,  tlie  multitudinous  and  motley  procession  defiled  though 
the  gates  of  the  ancient  capital  of  Tlascala.  It  was  the  twenty- 
third  of  September,  1519,  the  anniversary  of  which  is  still  cele- 
brated by  the  inhabitants,  as  a  day  of  jubilee.^ 

^  "  A  distancia  de  un  quarto  de  legua  caminando  d  esta  dicha  ciudad  se 
ercuentra  una  barranca  honda,  que  tiene  para  passer  u>i  Puente  de  cal y  canto 
tie  boveda,  y  es  tradicion  en  el  pueblo  de  San  Salvador,  que  se  hlzo  en  aquellos 
dias  que  estubo  alli  Cortes  paraque  pasasse."  (Viaje,  ap.  Lorenzana,  p.  xi.) 
If  the  antiquity  of  this  arched  stone  bridge  could  be  established,  it  would  set- 
tle a  point  much  mooted  in  respect  to  Indian  architecture.  But  the  construc- 
tion of  so  solid  a  work  in  so  short  a  time  is  a  fact  requiring  a  better  voucher 
than  the  villagers  of  San  Salvador. 

'  Clavigero,  Stor.  del  Messico,  torn.  III.  p.  53. 

"  Kecibimiento  el  mas  solene  y  tanioso  que  en  el  .nundo  se  ha  visto,"  ex. 
claims  the  enthusiastic  historian  of  the  republic,  rie  adds,  that  "  more  than 
a  hundred  thousand  men  flocked  out  to  receive  the  Spaniards ;  a  thing  that 
appears  impossilile."  que  parece  cosa  mipessible!  It  does  indeed.  Camitrgo, 
Hist,  de  Tlascala,  MS. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  7'LASCALA. 


317 


The  press  was  now  so  great,  that  it  was  with  difficulty  the 
police  of  the  city  could  clear  a  passage  for  the  army  ; 
while  the  azeoteas,  or  flat  terraced  roofs  of  the  buildings,  were 
covered  with  spectators,  eager  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  wonder- 
ful strangers.  The  houses  were  hung  with  festoons  of  flowers, 
and  arches  of  verdant  bougiis,  intertwined  with  roses  and 
honeysuckle,  were  thrown  across  the  streets.  The  whole 
population  abandoned  itself  to  rejoicing:  and  the  air  was  rent 
with  songs  and  shouts  of  triumph  mingled  with  the  wild  music 
of  the  naiionalinstniments,  that  might  ha\e  excited  apprehen- 
sions IV,  the  breasts  of  the  soldierv,  had  they  not  gathered  their 
peaceful  import  from  ttie  assurance  of  Maiina,  and  the  joyous 
countenances  of  the  natives. 

V\  'ih  these  accompa-  iments,  the  procession  moved  along  the 
princijiai  sireets  to  the  mansion  of  Xirotencatl.  tli-  aged  father 
of  the  Tlascalan  general,  and  one  of  the  four  rulers  of  t!ie  republic. 
Coric's  dismounted  lions  his  horse,  to  rc;ceive  the  old  ':liieftaiii's 
embrace,  fie  was  ;:eariy  bliuu  ;  and  saiished,  as  far  a::  lie  coc.Id, 
a  natural  curiu-^ity  respecting  the  person  ol  the  Spa::":>h  gene-al, 
by  pa:>>i!jg  h's  hLind  o'. i::  h;s  feafares,  xle  th  ^r,  led  ll-e  way  to 
:i  spacious  hall  in  h'.s  palace,  wbt~e  a  banquet  was  ser.ed  to  th-C 
army,  lu  ihie  eveinng,  thev  were  shown  to  li^.eir  quartc 
bui^LLugs  and  open  grovaid  surrouMu!:ig  one  of  'he  pv 
yc'/ii' ,  v.Mi.e  the  Mexican  ainba.ssaclors,  at  tlic  desire  ■• 
h  ...  apaiuncnis  as:-igned  :  ikmu  next  to  his  own,  that  he 
Oetter  wa.ch  over  tncir  saletv,  in  this  ci!y  ot  their  eiu;:; 

liascala  \^■asol1e  of  the  most  important  and  populou: 
thi.  table-land.  Cortes  in  his  letter  to  the  Jimperor,  c- 
;:>  t  iratiao'a,  aiifirn.ine;.  t'lat  it  was  larger,  sironger,  and  more  pop- 
ulous than  the  Moorish  capital,  at  tne  time  01  the  cuii.-^i'.est,  and 
qtiite  as  ■  -li  v-uiit.'*  iiii:.  notwitiisiandhig  we  are  assiited  l;)v  a 
nvjst  iOsfiec'iable  .vriier  at  ihe  close  of  tlie  last  cen;i:r\-,  th.a:  its 
reniams  i';s.av  the  asstrti'  .  ;  ue  sa^.a  be  slow  to  believe  thai  its 
ecinces  couJu  haverivaliea  t.iose-  monuments  of  Orienptl  magr.ifi- 
cence,  wi-ose  light,  aerial  tonns  ^tiil  survive  atter  the  lajise  vf 
ages,  the  admiration  of  every  traveller  of  sensibility  and  taste< 

'■  Sraia;4uri,  i-i.-i,  de  Nr.cva  Espana,  M.S.,  lib.  12.  cap.  [i.--ite'.  -lO':.  de 
Cori.-;^,  ?.]).  ].oi'-ii?..'ina,  p.  './). — Camar<:<),  ihst.  de  Tiascahi:  Ivl .~ .—- Goinara, 
Cr^'iaica,  e:Mi.  54.  —  ll(;rrir:>.  Hiii.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  O,  cap,  n. 

♦  '•  La  '!  :;:ii  ci'n'-jA  L.^t:iii  grandc.  v.lc  tat;U  a(]ni;raci.:iu,  (]iitj  auinjuc  nuuho 
d'^  lo,  r.uf  (]--  citi  -.,(.,d;'-i  'I'-rl' .  dcxc.  !•'  oocn  que  dirb  crt-o  es  casi  incrcihlCj 
[.•(jr';ue  f  i;i  'V  Tii  .-.^ir  (H!c  r;r.uiada,  y  iiimv  mas  fuerte,  y  de  tan  bucnos  J.di- 
fir:"s.  V  ,-'  ■  nii'-  ni.i-  ha  ma-,  .t::'nte  (|iiu  (jiaiiada  tenia  a!  tieinpo  quo  se  gauc.'' 
Re!.  S'f?.  dt  ('ovti'--.  ap.  I  .((r(  iizaiia,  p.  c,S. 

''  '■  tn  i.-ts  Kuii,!-,,  que  nuii  li'V  se  v  n  ei\  Tiaxeala,  se  conoco,  quer»o«» 
jKJiideraeii.r.."     ILiii.,  p.  58.     iN';.;a  del  edifur.  Lorciuaua. 

Mexi.  o   1  !  ^^^-  ■^ 


:'-5,  Va, 

the 

ncipa! 

Uff- 

a  Coi 

ICS, 

might 

the 

aes.« 

■   L     SMI: 

5  on 

nrain 

s  it 

jl8  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

The  truth  is,  that  Cortds,  like  Columbus,  saw  objects  through  the 
warm  medium  of  his  own  fond  imagination,  giving  them  a  higher 
tone  of  coloring  and  larger  dimensions  than  were  strictly  war- 
ranted by  the  fact.  It  was  natural  that  the  man  who  had  made 
such  rare  discoveries  should  unconsciously  magnify  their  merits 
to  his  own  eyes,  and  to  those  of  others. 

The  houses  were  built,  for  the  most  part,  of  mud  or  earth ;  the 
better  sort  of  stone  and  lime,  or  bricks  dried  in  the  sun.  They 
were  unprovided  with  doors  or  windows,  but  in  the  apertures  for 
the  former  hung  mats  fringed  with  pieces  of  copper  or  something 
which,  by  its  tinkling  sound,  would  give  notice  of  any  one's  en- 
trance. The  streets  were  narrow  and  dark.  The  population 
must  have  been  considerable,  if,  as  Cortes  asserts,  thirty  thou- 
sand souls  were  often  gathered  in  the  market  on  a  public  day. 
These  meetings  were  a  sort  of  fairs,  held,  as  usual  in  all  the  great 
towns,  every  fifth  day,  and  attended  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  ad- 
jacent country,  who  brought  there  for  sale  every  description  of 
domestic  produce  and  manufacture,  with  which  they  were  ac- 
quainted. They  peculiarly  excelled  in  pottery,  which  was  con- 
sidered as  equal  to  the  best  in  Europe.^  It  is  a  further  proof  of 
civilized  habits,  that  the  Spaniards  found  barbers'  shops,  and 
baths  both  of  vapor  and  hot  water,  familiarly  used  by  the  inhab- 
itants. A  still  higher  proof  of  refinement  may  be  discerned  in  a 
vigilant  police  which  repressed  everything  like  disorder  among 
the  people.'' 

The  city  was  divided  into  four  quarters,  which  might  rather  be 
called  so  many  separate  towns,  since  they  were  built  at  different 
times,  and  separated  from  each  other  by  high  stone  walls,  de- 
fining their  respective  limits.  Over  each  of  these  districts  ruled 
one  of  the  four  great  chiefs  of  the  republic,  occupying  his  own 
spacious  mansion,  and  surrounded  by  his  own  immediate  vassals. 
Strange  arrangement, — and  more  strange,  that  it  should  have 
been  compatible  with  social  order  and  tranquillity  !  The  ancient 
capital,  through  one  quarter  of  which  flowed  the  rapid  current  of 
the  Zahuatl,  stretched  along  the  summits  and  sides  of  hills,  at 
whose  base  are  now  gathered  the  miserable  remains  of  its  once 
flourishing  population.*     Far  beyond,  to  the  south-east,  extended 

*  "  Nullum  e«t  fictile  vas  apud  nos,  quod  arte  superet  ab  illis  vasa  formata.'' 
Martyr,  De  Orbe  Novo,  dec.  5,  cap.  2. 

'  Camar^o,  Hist,  de  Tlascala,  MS. — Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana, 
p.  59. — Oviedo,  Hist,  de  las  Iiid.,  MS.,  lib.  33,  cap  4. — Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist. 
Chich.,  MS.,  cap83. 

The  last  historian  enumerates  such  a  number  o'  contemporary  Indian  author- 
ities for  his  narrative,  aa  of  itself  argues  no  inconsiderable  degree  of  civil- 
ization in  the  people. 

•  Herrera,  Hist.  CJeneral,  dec.  2,  lib.  6,  cap.  12. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  TLASCALA. 


319 


the  bold  sierra  of  Tlascala,  and  the  huge  Malinche,  crowned  with 
the  usual  silver  diadem  of  the  higiiesi  Andes,  having  its  shaggy 
sides  clothed  with  dark-green  forests  of  firs,  gigantic  sycamores, 
and  oaks  whose  towering  stems  rose  to  the  height  of  forty  or  fifty 
leet,  unincumbered  by  a  branch.  The  clouds,  which  sailed  over 
from  the  distant  Atlantic,  gathered  round  the  lotiy  peaks  of  the 
sierra,  and,  settling  into  torrents,  poured  over  the  plains  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  city,  converting  them,  at  such  seasons,  iiUo 
swamps.  Thunder  storm.s,  more  frequent  and  terrible  here,  than 
In  other  parts  of  the  table-land,  swept  down  the  sides  of  the 
mountains,  and  shook  the  frail  tenements  of  tiie  capiiai  to  tiieir 
foundations.  Bui,  although  the  bleak  winds  of  ihe  sit-rra  gave 
an  austerity  to  tlie  climate,  unlike  the  sunny  skies  and  ge-nial 
temperature  of  the  lower  regions,  it  was  far  tnore  favorable  t^ 
the  development  of  both  the  physical  and  moral  energies.  A 
bold  and  hardy  peasantry  was  nurtured  among  the  recesses  of  the 
hills,  fit  «.quaHy  to  cultivate  ti:'.e  !and  in  peace,  and  to  defend  it 
\n  war.  Unlike  the  spoiled  child  of  Nature,  who  derives  such 
facilities  of  subsistence  from  her  too  prodigal  hand,  as  superst\ie 
the  necessity  oi  exertion  on  nis  own  p;'.rt,  the  Fiascalan  earr:ed 
hi'-  bread — from  a  soil  not  suigrateful,  it  is  true — by  ti:.(:  sweat  of 
his  brow.  He  led  a  life  of  temperance  and  t(>ii.  Ci:t  off  by  his 
it)ng  wars  with  the  Aztecs  from  conHnerciul  intercou!..e,  he  v/as 
driven  chiefly  to  a^!;ric':b.ural  laboi,  the  occupation  most  pro[;itious 
to  purity  of  morals  and  sinewv  strcn-^th  of  constiMition.  His  honest 
breast  glowed  with  the  jiairiolisn', — or  local  aticichir.ent  to  the 
soil,  whicit  is  the  fruit  of  its  diligent  cul'urc  ;  wiiiie  he  was  el- 
evated b\'  z.  prrjud  r.insciousncss  of  indepetirletice,  il;e  natural 
birtlirigb.i  ot  I  he  child  of  the  mountains.— Sach  was  the  :ace  with 
v\hoin  Cortes  '.vas  no.v  associated,  for  tlie  achievement  of  iiisgreac 
work. 

Some  days  were  given  by  the  Spaniards  to  festivity,  in  which 
ftiiey  "vvere  successive!}-  entcr'nineo  at  'lie  hospituble  boards  of  the 
four  great  nobles,  in  their  several  quarters  of  the  cit}\  Amidst 
these  friendly  demonstrations, howevei,  tlie  general  never  rehuxod 
for  a  moment  his  habitual  vigilance,  or  the  sirier  chscip.ine  of  il.e 
carnj)  ;  and  he;  was  careful  to  jn'  .v:fle  for  the  security  oL  the  citi- 
zens by  pro!i;b;ibig,  ei.'lei  ;-e\^  1  p;;:r:l'.;es^  ai  7  >:il(lier  from 
ieavin';  his  quarters  v.idion,;  (.\;  ilss  p'c.inission.  Indeed,  the 
seventy  of  his  discipline  pros'oked  liic  reiiionstrance  </,'  more  than 
one  fit  his  officers,  as  a  snpertlu(.iis  c.iuiion  ;  and   the  Tlascaian 

TLe  pojjulati.',!!  of  a  piaci-,  wliirri  tlcnO^  couUi  conipau.'  with  Granada,  had 
dwindled  by  ;ho  l)ej_Miiniiig  uf  the  j.restnr  century  to  3,400  inhabitants,  of 
whicli  less  than  a  tinnisap.d  were  of  il'e  Indian  stock.  .See  Humboldt,  Kstai 
Politique,  lonv    II-  \>-  i£8- 


320 


MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 


chiefs  took  somS exception  at  it,  as  inferring  an  unreasonable  di» 
trust  of  tnem.  But  when  Cortes  explained  it,  as  in  obedience  to 
an  established  military  system,  they  testilied  their  admiration,  and 
the  ambitious  young  general  of  the  republic  proposed  to  introduce 
it,  if  possible,  into  his  own  ranks.^ 

The  Spanish  commander,  having  assured  himself  of  the  loyalty 
of  his  new  allies,  next  proposed  to  accomplish  one  of  the  great 
objects  of  his  new  mission,  their  conversion  to  Christianity.  By 
the  advice  of  father  Olmedo,  always  opposed  to  precipitate  meas- 
ures, he  had  deferred  this  till  a  suitable  opportunity  presented 
itself  for  opening  the  subject.  Such  a  one  occurred  when  the 
chiefs  of  the  state  proposed  to  strengthen  the  alliance  with  the 
Spaniards,  by  the  intermarriage  of  their  daughters  with  Cortes 
and  his  officers.  He  told  them,  this  could  not  be,  while  they  con- 
tinued in  the  darkness  of  infidelity.  Then,  with  the  aid  of  the 
good  friar,  he  expounded  as  well  as  he  could  the  doctrines  of  the 
Faith;  and,  exhibiting  the  image  of  the  Virgin  with  the  infant 
Redeemer,  told  them  that  there  was  the  God,  in  whose  worship 
alone  they  would  find  salvation,  while  that  of  their  own  false 
idols  would  sink  them  in  eternal  perdition. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  burden  the  reader  with  a  recapitulation  of 
his  homily,  which  contained,  probably,  dogmas  quite  as  incompre- 
hensible to  the  untutored  Indian,  as  any  to  be  found  in  his  own 
rude  mythology.  But.  though  it  failed  to  convince  his  audience, 
they  listened  with  a  deferential  awe.  When  he  had  finished,  they 
replied,  they  had  no  doubt  that  the  God  of  the  Christians  must 
be  a  good  and  a  great  God,  and  has  such  they  were  willing  to  give 
him  a  place  among  the  divinities  of  Tlascala.  The  polytheistic 
system  of  the  Indians,  like  that  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  was  of  that 
accommodadng  kind  which  could  admit  within  its  elastic  folds 
the  deities  of  any  other  religion,  without  violence  to  itself.-^'*  But 
every  nation,  they  continued,  must  have  its  own  appropriate  and 
tutelary  deities.  Nur  could  they,  in  their  old  age,  abjure  the  ser- 
vice of  those  who  had  watched  over  them  from  youth.  It  would 
bring  down  thvj  vengeance  of  their  gods,  and  of  their  own  nation, 
who  were  as  warmly  attached  to  their  religion  as  their  liberties, 
and  would  defend  both  with  the  last  drop  of  their  blood  ! 

^  Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nueva  Espana,  MS.,  lib.  12,  cap  11. — Camargo,  Hist., 
de  Tlascala,  MS. — Comara,  Cronica,  cap.  54,  55. — Herrera,  Hist.  General, 
dec,  2,  lib.  6,  cap,  13. — Bernal  Diaz,  Hist  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  75. 

'^'  Camargo  notices  this  elastic  property  in  the  religions  of  Anahuac.  "  Este 
modo  de  habiar  y  decir  que  les  querra  dar  olro  Dies,  es  saber  que  cuando 
estas  gentes  tenian  noticia  de  algun  Uios  de  buenas  propiedades  y  costumbres, 
que  le  rescibiesen  admitiendole  por  tal,  porque  otras  gentes  advenedizas 
trujeron  muchos  idolos  que  tubieron  por  Dioses,  y  a  este  fin  y  proposilo 
iecian,  que  Cortes  les  traia  otro  Dios."     Hist,  de  Tlascala,  M  S 


.'/  r^'I-MTTLO  coxr£j:s/OA\ 


3-1 


It  yvzs  clearly  inexpedient  to  press  the  matter  further,  at 
present.  But  the  zea!  of  Cortds,  as  usual,  waxing  warm  by  op- 
position, had  now  mounted  too  high  for  him  to  calcula'  Db- 
stacles  ;  nor  would  he  have  shrunk,  probably,  from  the  crown  of 
martyrdom  in  so  good  a  cause.  But,  fortunately,  at  least  for 
the  success  of  his  temporal  cause,  this  crown  was  not  reserved 
for  him. 

TIic  good  mor.k,  his  ghostly  ad\-iser,  seeing  tlie  course  tl'ii^gs 
w.:re  likelv  to  ti'ke.  with  better  judgment  ;nter!)osed  to  prever.t 
i*.  He  had  no  desire,  he  said,  to  see  t!)e  same  scenes  acted 
over  again  as  at  Cempoakia.  He  had  no  reiiMi  for  lorced  ccn- 
■  ersions.  They  could  hardly  be  lastir.g.  d'he  growili  ol  an  hour 
iri'g!\t  v,v!'  die  with  ihe  !u'-ur.  Oi  what  use  was  it  to  overturn 
the  alt.  ,  if  the  idol  ren-i;iined  enihronvd  in  tne  heari.  ?  oi  to 
destroy  t'je  ifl'd  itself,  if  it  were  onl}-  Toninke  r'^^oin  for  anotlier  ? 
I-Se".:cr  t'"  '-v-iit  patiently  the  eiVcc:  of  time  "-.nd  leaching  to  so.^:en 
t'ne  hear'  ^rid  open  the  understaiuling,  witljout  v/hich  there  could  be 
r  :  a-'"'!-anrv  ■  ■''  a  ^ound  and  piTiuaiitnt  ccn\  ic:  ion.  Tiicse  raliona) 
vk:us  wcnj  enforced  b\'  the  rcinons'rances  f;i  Ais-arado.  Velasquez 
de  Leon,  a'^d  [hr,<e  in  wiioin  Cc'rres  |)iacc-d  most  ccntidence  ; 
I'lk  (k-;vcn  frori:  his  original  jKn'o^iSe.  ihe  niiliiary  poiftniic  (  on- 
sev/r-di  'o  relinquish  the  attenipt  at  con\ersion.  for  the  present, 
a:;!  t  '  retrain  froin  a  repoii'ion  of  tiie  scenes,  v.iuch.  consider- 
ing t!"'e  d'ffirrent  meitle  -.A  tne  population,  nkgijt  have  been 
a:rer'''  ■!  v>i'h  very  diltereut  re.^ulrs  from  ihosc  at  Cozumel  and 
C'.-'nTjoaka/' 

'n  ih.o  (  'lur-^e  of  our  narra'ive,  \'.e  liave  iiaci  occasion  t(5wit!iess 
!;■  "o  tlian  onco  tlie  gorxl  ciY^-c:-  or  the  int'jrpo^iuon  of  father 
(')'■;, --rlri.  Indeed,  i'  is  scarcely  too  much  to  sav,  th:n  his  dis- 
er^,•i.Ml  in  spiritual  niaitttrs  contnlmieei  as  esbendaily  tu  the 
"-i.-'cc---  of  '.he  expe'li'i  •'i.  as  did  kne  sagacity  and  courage  of 
('  -i''^  '■■■.  lempo'^ak  ib:  .as  a  triic  ciisciiDle  in  the  sclioo'  of 
'  i>  ''i'a-.'.'-.  TJi  heart  was  uns''a;iied  l;y  tliat  fiery  fanaiiciMn 
•  kieh  ~(:r-r:^  .'^.,f|  harrlt:ic  whatever  i;  idh^Iks.  It  ineiied  v.ih 
tiie  v.ariv,  o-Imw  of  (Jh'istian  charit\-.  He  liaci  come  out  to  the 
N'.^'.v  \'i.'('i!';d.  a-  a  m;-•-•;(lnar^'  am-'  '■'_.:;  ;iie  healhen,  ai.d  !;<.;  shrniik 
from  U"  -.arritice,  but  that    c-f  tk.:  v/citare  of  the  poor    kcnigkted 

■^-  Txtli'.v'irr.i'.i.  [['-t.  C]A'/t\..  MS.,  c.-i]).  S.;. — (njiTinra,  Crtkiica,  cap.  c,('y-~ 
Tv  rnai   \>i.,/.   (I:-:,  il-  hi  (JomjiilsM,  ci,,.  yfi,  77. 

'i  ':,:«  i-  iv^;  liiC  ricc'jiiiit  of  Canirir:  n  /v;  -rjr'iiiiL'  to  him  Cortes  gained  his 
J''  :  til';  ii  '.  ]v<  h-ti  :lie  wav  ''■  (  iiibi  .ic'iii;  '  "In  ..-'.ianitv.  and  the  idols  wer? 
br"i'.'.  (ii  -t.  '!'•  'I'lasraia,  .M ."  .  I  iii:;  (  ainart"!  w.-is  hini.selt  a  Christi.in- 
iz''d  [•■  !':i;:,  wt'-.  l;'.-<fi  in  tri-  ir'-.t  l'Cikt  itiun  .if'ci  tiu:  (.'(iii(|uest;  atui  may 
Tf-r-.'  ''i  '  ■■•  !■)  i\-i.-  ff'r  ^^  niucli  lU-  ■<■;■  U<  rcl:(.:ve  his  iiati(;n  from  the  rfj^roach 
of  iiifi'i'j^v.  a^  a  ni' ■(',' t!,  -  [.ai,:,!:  ■!  wouii'  lu  SL<mr  out  liie  stain — mai^.  t  u»a 
y  manc/iu — o!  Jcwi.-li  i^r  MuiTii.-.ii  iineugL.  fium  Ins  tbcutclieoii. 


,2  2  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

flock  to  whom  he  had  consecrated  his  days.  If  he  followed  tht 
banners  of  ihe  warrior,  it  was  to  mitigate  the  ferocity  of  war,  and 
to  turn  the  triumphs  of  the  Cross  to  a  good  account  for  the 
natives  themselves,  by  the  spiritual  labors  of  conversion.  He 
afforded  the  uncommon  example — not  to  have  been  looked  for, 
certainly,  in  a  Spanish  monk  of  the  sixteenth  century — of  en- 
thusiasm controlled  by  reason,  a  quickening  zeal  tempered  by 
the  mild  spirit  of  toleration. 

But,  though  Cortds  abandoned  the  ground  of  conversion  for 
the  present,  he  compelled  the  Tlascalans  to  break  the  fetters  of 
the  unfortunate  victims  reserved  for  sacrifice  ;  an  act  of  human- 
ity unhappily  only  transient  in  its  effects,  since  the  prisons  were 
filled  with  fresh  victims,  on  his  departure. 

He  also  obtained  permission  for  the  Spaniards  to  perform 
the  services  of  their  own  religion  unmolested.  A  large  cross 
was  erected  in  one  of  the  great  courts  or  squares.  Mass  was 
celebrated  every  day  in  the  presence  of  the  army  and  of  crowds 
of  natives,  who,  if  they  did  not  comprehend  its  full  import,  were 
so  far  edified,  that  they  learned  to  reverence  the  religion  of  their 
conquerors.  The  direct  interposition  of  Heaven,  however,  wrought 
more  for  their  conversion  than  the  best  homily  of  priest  or  sol- 
dier. Scarcely  had  the  Spaniards  left  the  city, — the  tale  is  told  on 
very  respectable  authority, — when  a  thin,  transparent  cloud 
descended  and  settled  like  a  column  on  the  cross,  and,  wrap- 
ping it  round  in  its  luminous  folds,  continued  to  emit  a  soft, 
celestial  radiance  through  the  night,  thus  proclaiming  the  sacred 
character  of  the  symbol,  on  which  was  shed  the  halo  of  divin- 
ity ! " 

The  principle  of  toleration  in  religious  matters  being  est?,b- 
lished,  the  Spanish  general  consented  to  receive  the  daughters 
of  the  caciques.  Five  or  six  of  the  most  beautiful  of  the  Indian 
maidens  were  assigned  to  as  many  of  his  principal  officers,  after 
they  had  been  cleansed  from  the  stains  of  infidelity  by  the  water? 
of  baptism.  They  received,  as  usua2,  on  this  occasion,  good 
Castilian  names,  in  exchange  for  the  barbarous  nomenclature  of 
their  own  vernacular.^'^  Among  them,  Xicotencatl's  daijghter, 
Dona  Luisa,  as  she  was  called  after  her  baptism,  was  a  princess 
of  the  highest  estimation  and  authority  in  Tlascala.  She  was 
given  by  her  father  to  Alvarado,  and  their  posterity  intermarried 

^  The  miracle  is  reported  by  Herrera,  (Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  6,  cap. 
15,)  and  believed  hy  Soli's.     Conquista  de  Mejico,  lib,  3,  cap.  5. 

^*  To  avoid  the  perplexity  of  selection,  it  was  common  for  the  missionary 
to  give  the  same  names  to  all  the  Indians  baptized  on  the  same  day.  Thus, 
one  day  was  set  apart  for  the  Johns,  another  for  the  Peters,  and  so  on:  an  in- 
genious arrangement,  much  more  for  the  convenience  of  the  clergy,  than  of 
the  converts.     See  Camargo,  Hist,  de  Tlascala,  MS. 


AZTEC  EMBASSY. 


323 


with  the  noblest  families  of  Castile.  The  frank  and  joyous 
manners  of  this  cavalier  made  him  a  great  favorite  with  tho 
Tlascalans  ;  and  his  bright,  open  countenance,  fair  complexic. 
and  golden  locks,  gave  him  the  name  of  Tonatiuh,  the  "  Sun." 
The  Indians  often  pleased  their  fancies  by  fastening  a  sobriquet, 
or  some  characteristic  epithet  on  the  Spaniards.  As  Cortes  was 
always  attended,  on  public  occasions,  by  Dona  Marina,  or  Ma-^ 
linche,  as  she  was  called  by  the  natives,  they  distinguished  him 
by  the  same  name.  By  these  epithets,  originally  bestowed  ii; 
Tlascala,  the  two  Spanish  captains  were  popularly  designated 
among  the  Indian   nations." 

While  these  events  were  passing,  another  embassy  arrived 
from  the  court  of  Mexico.  It  was  charged,  as  usual,  with  a  costly 
donative  of  embossed  gold  plate,  and  rich  embroidered  stuffs  of 
cotton  and  feather-work.  The  terms  of  the  message  might  well 
argue  a  vacillating  and  timid  temper  in  the  monarch,  did  they 
not  mask  a  deeper  policy.  He  now  invited  the  Spaniards  to 
his  capital,  with  the  assurance  of  a  cordial  welcome.  He  be- 
sought them  to  enter  into  no  alliance  with  the  base  and  barbar- 
ous Tlascalans ;  and  he  invited  them  to  take  the  route  of  the 
friendly  city  of  Cholula,  where  arrangements,  according  to  his 
orders,  were  made  for  their  reception. ^^ 

The  Tlascalans  viewed  with  deep  regret  the  general's  pro- 
posed visit  to  Mexico.  Their  reports  fully  confirmed  all  he  had 
before  heard  of  the  power  and  ambition  of  Montezuma.  His 
armies,  they  said,  were  spread  over  every  part  of  the  continent. 
His  capital  was  a  place  of  great  strength,  and  as,  from  its  insular 
position,  all  communication  could  be  easily  cut  off  with  the 
adjacent  country,  the  Spaniards,  once  entrapped  there,  would 
be  at  his  mercy.  His  policy,  they  represented,  was  as  insidious, 
as  his  am!:)ition  was  boundless.     "Trust   not   his   fair  words," 

1^  Ibid.,  MS. — Ikriial  Diaz,  Hist,  de  !a  Conquista,  cap.   74,77. 

Accordiiij^  to  <'amargo,  the  Tlascalaus  ;j;ave  the  Spanish  coininaiuier  tliree 
hundred  dain^el.-,  to  wait  on  Marina  ;  and  the  kintl  treatment  and  instruction 
thev  recei\xd  ieu  some  of  tlie  chiefs,  to  surrender  their  i)\\i\  daughters, 
"con  proiJOr,ito  de  que  st  nt-aso  algunas  se  cmi)reriasen  (juedase  entre  edos 
generacion  de  homijrcs  tan  valientes  y  teinidos." 

'^  Hernal  Diaz.  Hist,  de  hi  Conquista,  ca]).  80.  —  Re].  Seg.  de  C\)rtcs,  ap. 
Lorenzana,  p.  ()0. — Mart\r,  De  Tlrbe  Xosd,  dec.  5.  rap.    2. 

Cortes  iiDti'es  on  I  v  one  .A /.tec  mission,  wliile  Diaz  speaks  of  three.  The 
for;ncr,  frmn  l>rev)t\'.  fails  ^n  i.iucii  short  ot  the  wliole  trutii,  and  tiie  latter, 
from  forgetfuine  —  perliaps.  goi;  ^ o  much  bcvond  it,  lliat  it  is  not  always 
easy  to  de(  ide  between  tliem,  l)i<i/.  did  not  compile  his  narrative  till  some 
fifty  years  after  tiie  ( 'ompicst  ;  a  iap>c  of  time,  which  may  excuse  many  errors, 
but  must  con-.iderably  im];air  our  confidence  in  the  minute  accuracy  of  hit 
details.  A  more  ititimale  acquaiiUance  with  his  chronicle  does  not  strengthoo 
thiscon&dence. 


3*4 


MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 


they  said,  "  his  courtesies,  and  his  gifts.  His  professions  are 
hollow,  and  his  friendships  are  false."  When  Conds  remarked, 
that  he  hoiked  to  bring  about  a  better  understanding  between 
the  emperor  and  them,  they  replied,  it  would  be  impossible  ; 
however  smooth  his  words,  he  would  hate  them  at  heart. 

They  warmly  protested,  also  against  the  general's  taking  the 
route  of  Cholula,  The  inhabitants,  not  brave  in  the  open  field, 
were  more  dangerous  from  their  perfidy  and  craft.  They  were 
Montezuma's  tools,  and  would  do  his  bidding.  The  Tlascalans 
seemed  to  combine  with  this  distrust  a  superstitious  dread  of 
the  ancient  city,  the  head-quarters  of  the  religions  of  Anahuac. 
It  was  here  that  the  god  Quetzalcoatl  held  the  pristine  seat  of 
his  empire.  His  temple  was  celebraied  throughout  the  land, 
and  the  priests  were  confidently  believed  to  have  the  power,  as 
they  themselves  boasted,  of  opening  an  inundation  from  the 
foundatious  of  his  shrine,  which  should  bury  their  enemies  in 
the  deluge.  The  Tlascalans  further  reminded  Cortes,  that, 
while  sc  many  other  and  distant  places  had  sent  to  him  at 
Tlascala,  to  testify  their  good-will,  and  offer  their  allegiance  to 
his  sovereigns,  Cholula,  only  six  leagues  distant,  had  done 
neither. — The  last  suggestion  struck  the  general  more  forcibly 
tiian  any  of  the  preceding.  He  instantly  despatched  a  summons 
to  the   city,  requiring  a  formal  tender  of  its  submission. 

Among  the  embassies  from  different  quarters  which  had 
waited  on  the  Spanish  commander,  while  at  Tlascala,  was  one 
from  Ixtlilxochitl,  son  of  the  great  Nezahualpilli,  and  an  unsuc- 
cessful competitor  with  his  elder  brother — as  noticed  in  a  for- 
nior  part  of  our  narrative — for  the  crown  of  Tezcuco.^'^  Though 
defeated  in  his  pretensions,  he  had  obtained  a  part  of  the  king- 
no!;;,  over  whicli  he  ruled  with  a  deadly  feeling  of  animosity 
towards  his  rival,  and  to  Montezuma,  who  had  sustained  him. 
He  now  offered  his  services  to  ('orie^,  asking  his  aid,  in  return, 
to  place  him  on  the  throne  of  his  ancestors.  The  politic  general 
returned  such  an  answer  to  the  aspiring  voung  prince,  as  might 
encourage  his  expectations,  and  attach  him  to  his  interests.  It 
was  his  aim  to  strengthen  his  cause,  by  attracting  to  himself 
every  particle  of  disaffection  that  was  floating  through  the 
land. 

!t  was  not  long  before  deputies  arri^■ed  from  Cholula,  pro- 
fu5;e  in  their  expressions  of  good- will,  and  inviting  the  presence 
of  the  Spaniards  in  their  capital.  The  messengers  were  of  low 
o.cgree,  far  beneath  the  usual  rank  of  ambassadors.  This  was 
pointed  out  by  the  Tlascalans ;  and  Cortds  regarded  it  as  a 
fresh  indignity.  He  sent  in  consequence  a  new  summons,  declar- 
^  Ante,  p.  ?!7. 


INVITED   TO  CnOLVLA. 


3«S 


tng,  if  they  did  not  instantly  send  him  a  deputation  of  their  prin- 
cipal men,  he  would  deal  with  them  as  rebels  to  his  own  sovereign, 
the  rightful  lord  of  these  realms  !^^  The  menace  had  the  desired 
effect.  The  Cholulans  were  not  inclined  to  contest,  at  least, 
for  the  present,  his  magnificent  pretensions.  Another  embassy 
appeared  in  the  camp,  consisting  of  some  of  the  highest  nobles  ; 
who  repeated  the  invitation  for  the  Spaniards  to  visit  their  city, 
and  excused  iheir  own  tardy  appearance  by  apprehensions  for 
their  personal  safety  in  the  capital  of  their  enemies.  The  ex- 
planation was  plausible,  and  was  admitted  by  Cortes. 

The  Tlascalans  were  now  more  than  ever  opposed  to  his  pro- 
jected visit.  A  strong  Aztec  force,  they  had  ascertained,  lay  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Cholula,  and  the  people  were  actively 
placing  their  city  in  a  posture  of  defence.  They  suspected  some 
insidious  scheme  concerted  by  Montezuma  to  destroy  the 
Spaniards. 

These  suggestions  disturbed  the  mind  of  Cortds,  but  did  not 
turn  him  from  his  purpose.  He  felt  a  natural  curiosity  to  see 
the  venerable  city  so  celebrated  in  the  history  of  the  Indian 
nations.  He  had,  besides,  gone  too  far  to  recede,  too  far,  at  least, 
to  do  so  without  a  show  of  apprehension,  implying  a  distrust  in 
his  own  resources,  which  could  not  fail  to  have  a  bad  effect  on 
his  enemies,  his  allies,  and  his  own  men.  After  a  brief  consulta- 
'^on  with  his  officers,  he  decided  on  the  route  to  Cholula.^^ 

It  was  now  three  weeks  since  the  Spaniards  had  taken  up  their 
residence  within  the  hospitable  walls  of  Tlascaia  ;  and  nearly 
six,  since  they  entered  her  territory.  They  had  been  met  on 
the  threshold  as  an  enemy,  with  the  determined  hostility.  They 
were  now  to  part  with  the  same  people,  as  friends  and  allies  ; 
fast  friends,  who  were  to  stand  by  them,  side  by  side,  through 
the  whole  of  their  arduous  struggle.  The  result  of  their  visit, 
therefore,  was  of  the  last  importance  ;  since  on  the  cooperation  of 
these  brave  and  warlike  republicans,  greatly  depended  the 
ultimate  success  of  the  expedition. 

'''  "  Si  no  viniessen,  iria  sobre  ellos,  y  los  destruira,  y  procedcria  contra 
ellos  como  contra  personas  rebeldcs;  diciendoles,  coino  todas  estas  Partes, 
yotras  muy  mayores  Tierras,  y  Seiion'os  eran  dc  Vuestra  Alteza."  (Rel.  Seg 
de  Cortes,  ap.  Lxjreuzana,  p.  63.)  "  Rebellion"  was  a  very  convenient  term, 
fastened  in  like  manner  by  the  countrymen  of  Corles  on  the  Moors  for  de^ 
fending  the  possessions  which  they  had  held  for  eight  centuries  in  the  Penin- 
sula. It  justified  very  rigorous  reprisals. — (See  the  History  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella,  Part.  I.  chap.  13,  ct  alibi.) 

''*  Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  a]).  I.orenzana,  pp.  62,  63. — (Jviedo,  Hist,  de  las 
Ind.,  MS.,  lib  33,  cap.  4.  —  Ixtlilxochitl,  1  list,  f 'hich.,  MS.,  cap.  84. — Gomara, 
Cronica,  cap.  58. — Martyr,  De  Orbe  Novo,  dec,  5,  cap.  2. — Herrera,  Hist, 
General,  dec.  2,  lib.  6,  cap.  18. — Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nueva  EaDaCa.  MS.,  lib. 
la.  cat>.  II. 


ja^  MARCH  TO  MEXICO, 


CHAPTER  VI. 

City  of  Cholula. — Great   Temple. — March  to   Cholula.— 
Reception  of  the  Spaniards. — Conspiracy  Detected. 

The  ancit;nt  city  of  Cholula,  capital  of  the  republic  of  that 
nriise,  lay  nearly  six  leagues  south  of  Tlascaia,  and  about 
lA-jnty  east,  or  rather  south-east,  of  Mexico,  It  was  said  by 
Cone's  to  contain  twenty  thousand  houses  within  the  walls,  and 
..s  rnariv  more  in  the  environs  ;  1  though  now  dwindled  :o  a  popu- 
iation  of  icss  than  sixieen  thousand  souls. ^  Wliatevor  was  its 
real  number  of  inhabitants,  it  was  unquestionabl}-,  at  tire  time 
of  the  Conquest,  one  of  the  most  populous  and  flourishing  cities 
in  New  Spain-. 

it  was  of  great  antiquiiy,  and  was  founded  by  the  primitive 
races  svho  overspread  the  land  before  the  Azrecs.^  vVe  have 
icv.-  particulars  of  its  form  of  governmeni,  which  seem^  to  have 
been  cast  on  a  republican  model  similar  to  that  of  Tlascaia. 
This  answered  so  well,  that  the  state  maintained  its  independence 
do.-, n  to  a  ve:y  late  period,  when,  if  not  reduced  to  vassalage 
by  the  Aztecs,  it  was  so  far  under  their  control,  as  to  enjoy  few 
of  the  benefits  of  a  separaie  political  exisLence.  Tlieir  connection 
\,idi  Mexico  brought  the  Cholulans  into  frequent  cc-llision  v, ith 
their  neighbors  and  kiiiCired.  ih,e,  TIascalans.  But,  a'tiiough  far 
suj.erior  to  thorn  in  rehnenient  and  the  various  arts  of  civilization, 
thev  were  no  match  in  war  for  the  bold  mountaineers,  the  Swiss 
of  Anahviac.     The  Cholula;'    capital  was  the   great  commercial 

'  Rel.  Se^'.,  ap.  Lorenzp.na.  p.  67. 

.A.ocording  to  Las  Casas,  the  place  contained  30,000  vecinos  or  about  150,000 
inhaijitants.  (Brevis'ima  Relatione  della  Distruttione  dcii'  Inuie  Occidcn- 
tale  (Ver.etia,  1643).)  Tl)is  laU,er,  being  the  smaller  estimate,  is  a  priori 
tiie  most  credible  :  especially — a  rare  occurrence — when  in  the  pages  of  the 
good  bishop  o''  Chiapa. 

2  ]!umboldt,  Essai  Politique,  torn.  TIT.  p.  159. 
Vtytia  carries  back  the  foundation  of  the  city  to  the  Liir.ecs,  a  people 
who  precrrdeu  the  Toltecs.  (Hist.  Antig..  torn.,  I.  cap  ^3,  20.)  As  the 
latter,  after  occup\:n,e  the  land  several  centuries,  have  left  not  a  sirij^'a 
written  record,  iiroI)ably,  of  their  existence,  it  will  be  hard  so  -iiSpro/fc  tat 
licentiate's  asseiiio..,  — btii!  harder  to  prove  it. 


CITY  OP  CHOLULA.  327 

emporium  of  the  plateau.  The  inhabitants  excelled  in  various 
mechanical  arts,  especially  that  of  working  in  metals,  the  manu- 
facture of  cotton  and  agave  cloths,  and  of  a  delicate  kind  of 
pottery,  rivalling,  it  was  said,  that  of  Florence  in  beauty.*  But 
such  attention  to  the  arts  of  a  polished  and  peaceful  community 
naturally  indisposed  them  to  war,  and  disqualified  them  for 
coping  with  those  who  made  war  the  great  business  of  life. 
The  Cholulans  were  accused  of  effeminacy ;  and  were  less  dis- 
tinguished— it  is  the  charge  of  their  rivals — by  their  courage, 
than  their  cunning.^ 

But  the  capital,  so  conspicuous  for  its  refinement  and  its  great 
antiquity,  was  even  more  venerable  for  the  religious  traditions 
which  invested  it.  It  was  here  that  the  god  Quetzalcoatl  paused 
in  his  passage  to  the  coast,  and  passed  twenty  years  in  teaching 
the  Toltec  inhabitants  the  arts  of  civilization.  He  made  them 
acquainted  with  better  forms  of  government,  and  a  more  spirit- 
ualized religion,  in  which  the  only  sacrifices  were  the  fruits  and 
flowers  of  the  season.*^  It  is  not  easy  to  determine  what  he 
taught,  since  his  lessons  have  been  so  mingled  with  the  licen- 
tious dogmas  of  his  own  priests,  and  the  mystic  commentaries 
of  the  Christian  missionary.^  It  is  probable  he  was  one  of  those 
rare  and  gifted  beings,  who,  dissipating  the  darkness  of  the  age 
by  the  illumination  of  their  own  genius,  are  deified  by  a  grateful 
posterity,  and  placed  among  the  lights  of  heaven. 

It  was  in  honor  of  this  benevolent  deity,  chat  the  stupendous 
mound  was  erected,  on  which  the  traveller  still  gazes  with  ad- 
miration a^i  the  most  colossal  fabric  in  New  Spain,  ri\'alling  in 
diinensioDS,  and  somewhat  resembling  in  form,  the  pyramidal 
structures  of  ancient  I'-gypt.  The  date  of  its  erection  is  un- 
known ;  fur  it  was  fcnmd  there  when  the  Aztecs  entered  on  the 
plateau.  It  had  the  form  common  to  the  Mexican  teocallis,  that 
of  a  truncated  p)'ramid,  facing  with  its  four  sides  the  cardinal 
points,  and  disidud  into  the  same  number  of  terraces.  Its  orig- 
inal outlines,  however,  iia\-e  been  effaced  by  the  action  of  time 

*  Ilerrera,  Ilisi.  General,  dec.  2.  lib.  7,  (a[i.  2. 

'' (Jamargn,  ilisi.  de  Tiascala,  MS. — (ioni.ira  Cronica,  cap.  5S. — Torque- 
mada,  Monarch.   Ind.,  lil>.  3.  cap.  19. 

*  Veytia,  Hist.  Antig.,  i;)in.  \.  cap.  15,  ct  .--cq. — Sahaguii,  Hist,  de  Nucva 
EspaFia,  lib.  i,  cap.  5  ;  lib.  3. 

"^  J.ater  divines  have  found  in  these  teachings  of  the  Toltec  god,  or  iiigh 
priest,  the  germs  of  some  of  the  great  mysteries  of  the  r'hiistian  faith,  a,'; 
tliose  of  the  Incarnation,  and  the  Triiiitv,  for  example.  In  the  teacher  hini- 
seit,  they  recognize  no  less  a  person  than  St.  'I'homas.  the  Apostle!  See 
the  Dissertation  of  the  irrefragable  Dr.  Micr,  with  an  ((lifsiiig  c.ininHMit.uy 
by  .Sefior  liustaniante,  ap.  Sahaj;im.  (Hist,  de  .N'ueva  Ivs])ari.i,  toni.  I.  Siip- 
lemento.)  'I'he  rcadi-r  will  find  fsrther  partictilai  >>  of  this  matter  iu  A;\-.i:;:ft 
Pari  I,  of  this  History. 


228  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

and  of  the  elements,  while  the  exuberant  growth  of  shrubs  and 

\7ild  flowers,  which  have  mantled  over  its  surface,  give  it  the 
appearance  of  one  of  those  symmetrical  elevations  thrown  up  by 
the  caprice  of  nature,  rather  than  by  the  industry  of  man.  It  is 
doubtful,  indeed,  whether  the  interior  be  not  a  natural  hill, 
though  it  seems  not  improbable  that  it  is  an  artificial  composi- 
tion of  stone  and  earth,  deeply  incrusted,  as  is  certain,  in  every 
part,  v.'iih  alternate  strata  of  brick  and  clay.^ 

The  perpendicular  height  of  the  pyramid  is  one  hundred  and 
seventy-seven  feet.  Its  base  is  one  thousand  four  hundred  and 
twenty  three  feet  long,  twice  as  long  as  that  of  the  great  pyramid 
of  Cheops.  It  may  give  some  idea  of  its  dimensions  to  state, 
that  its  base,  uhich  is  square,  covers  about  forty-four  acres,  and 
the  platform  on  its  truncated  summit  embraces  more  than  one. 
It  reminds  us  of  those  colossal  monuments  of  brick  work,  which 
are  still  seen  in  ruins  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,  and,  in 
much  higher  preservation,  on  those  of  the  Nile.^ 

On  the  summit  stood  a  sumptuous  temple,  in  which  was  the 
image  of  the  mystic  deity,  "  god  of  the  air,  "  with  ebon  features, 
unlike  the  fair  complexion  which  he  bore  upon  earth,  wearing 
a  mitre  on  his  head  w.i^-ing  with  plumes  of  jire,  with  a  resplen- 
dent coHar  of  geld  I'ound  his  neck,  penckints  of  mosaic  turquoise 
in  hi'-  ear5,  a  jewelled  sceptre  in  one  hand,  and  a  shield  curiouslj 
pciintL'-'i,  tlie  emblem  (jf  liis  rule  over  the  winds,  in  tlie  other.-'' 
The  sanctity  of  the  place.  Imilowed  by  hoary  tradition,  and  the 
magnificence  of  the  temple  and  its  services,  made  it  an  object  of 
veneration  throughout  the  land,  and  pilgrims  from  the  furthest 
corners  of  Anahuac  came  to  offer  up  their  devotions  ai  the  shrine 

^  SiK:h.  on  the  v.'hole,  seems  to  t)e  the  judj^ment  ot  M.  de  Hum1x)ldt,  who 
has  examined  this  interesting  monument  with  liis  usual  care.  (Vues  des 
Cordilercs,  p.  27.  et  seci.  Es^ai  Politique,  torn.  II.  p.  150,61  seq.)  The 
opir.ion  derives  strong  corifirmation  from  the  fact,  that  a  road,  cut  some 
years  sii\ci;;  across  the  tuinuius,  hiid  open  a  large  section  of  i'.  in  which  the 
alterr.alc  layers  of  brick  and  clay  are  distinct! \-  visible,  (ibid.,  loc.  cit.) 
Th^  present  apptarasice  ot  this  monument,  covered  over  with  tiie  verdure 
and  vegc:.'il;le  mould  01  tcuiuries,  e.\cu:-es  the  .scepticism  of  the  more  super- 
fiC:;ti  traveller. 

''  Several  of  the  in'raniid-^  of  I'.gvpt,  and  the  ruins  of  Babvlon,  are,  as  is  well 
known,  of  brick.  An  inscrintion  "U  one  of  the  former,  indeed,  celebrates  this 
material  as  superior  to  stone.  (Herodotus.  Euterpe,  sec.  136.J — Humboldt 
f^.inishes  an  apt  illustration  of  the  size  of  the  Mexican  teocalU.  by  compar- 
.-. '  't  to  a  mass  of  bricks  covering  a  stpaare  four  times  as  large  as  the//a« 
"*     ;(\i;->ie.  and  of  t\\ice  the  height  of  the  Louvre.     Essai  Politiaue,  torn.  II. 

'  .'V  minute  account  of  the  costume  and  insignia  of  Qu'  tzalcoatl  is  given 
by  fcither  Scihngnn.  who  saw  the  Aztec  gods  before  the  arm  of  the  Christian 
convert  had  tu:nl  'cd  them  from  "  their  pride  of  place."  Sec  His*,  de  Nuev» 
Espana,  lib.  i,  L:.p.   :. 


GREAT  TEMPLE. 


3«9 


ol  Quetzalcoatl.^  The  number  of  these  was  so  great,  as  to  give 
an  air  of  mendicity  to  the  motley  population  of  the  city ;  and 
Cort<^s,  struck  with  the  novelty,  tells  us,  that  he  saw  multitudes 
of  beggars,  such  as  are  to  be  found  in  the  enlightened  capitals 
of  Europe,  ^'^ — a  whimsical  criterion  of  civilization,  which  must 
place  our  own  prosperous  land  somewhat  low  in  the  scale. 

Cholula  was  not  the  resort  only  of  the  indigent  devotee. 
Many  of  the  kindred  races  had  temples  of  their  own  in  the  city, 
in  the  same  manner  as  some  Christian  nations  have  in  Rome, 
and  each  temple  was  provided  with  its  own  peculiar  ministers 
for  the  service  of  the  deity  to  whom  it  was  consecrated.  In  no 
city  was  there  seen  such  a  concourse  of  priests,  so  many  proces- 
sions, such  pomp  of  ceremonial,  sacrilice,  and  rehgious  festivals. 
Chol.ih  vv:is,  in  short,  what  Mecca  is  anion.?  I^Iahometans,  or 
Teni^  ilem  among  Christians  ;  it  was  the  Holv  Citv  of  Ana- 
hiKic." 

The  relii^^ious  rites  were  not  performed,  however,  in  the  pure 
spirit  originally  prescribed  bv  its  tutelary  deity.  His  altars,  as 
well  as  ihose  of  the  numerous  Aztec  gods,  were  stained  with 
human  blood  ;  and  six  thousand  victims  are  said  to  have  been 
annually  offered  up  at  their  sanguinary  shrines  !  ^"-  The  great 
number  of  these  may  be  estimated  from  tl;e  declaration  of 
Corids,  that  he  counted  four  hundred  towers  m  t!v.?  city  ;  ^'^  yet 
no  temple  had  more  than  two.  many  only  one.  Higli  above  thr 
rest  rose  the  great  ''  pyramid  of  Choluia.''  with  its  undying  fires 
ii  ngin-j;  their  radiance  tar  and  wide  o\er  tiic  ca[:)ital.  and  pro- 
claiming to  the  natioiT^,  tl\at  there  was  the  n;''^:!C  worsiiip — alast 
how  C'-rrupted  IjV  cruelty  and  "^uner-Mtion  ; — nf  ilie  2,'ood  deity 
v,-ho  was  one  day  to  return  and  resume  his  empire  over  ihe 
land. 

Nothing  could  i)e  more  grand  than  the  xiew  wlricii  met  the 
eye  from  the  area  on  the  truncated  summit  of  iliC  pyra!';'.id. 
'J'oward  tiic  west  stretched  that  bold  harrier  of  pnrpii\Titic  rock 
which  nn'ure  has  reared  around  tlie  Valley  of  Mexic\  v.'itli  the 

1'  Tlif^y  cam:-  from  tb--  d'-tanc;  of  two  hiir.hrd  l.Mone-^.  "savs  '!  Mr.iiieinadA; 
Monarch.   Itid.,  !Jl).  3,  1. ;•.]).   1  ). 

'-  "  Hav  mucha  cciMl-  j^-lirc.  v  fjiie  jiiden  eii'p.-  ii)>l\ir;)-  mm  l.is  Calas 
V  ii'r  ias  C^a-a-.  v  \'lcr'::ifi.  >.,  com  >  hucei-,  io-  i'  ^<)\:--.  en  l->-iia!.:i.  v  en  otras 
partes  (jue  hav  (inite  lic  razLv:.''      Kcl.  Sci'.,  an    1  .orcii/ uia,  pp.  67,  6<S. 

'•  Tor  lUciBa'la,  Monarch.  Tnd..  I'l).  3.  cap.  19. — (".'.:i:m;,  ("ronica,  cap. 
6r. — ('ainari'o.  iiist.  dc  Tlascala,  ^■,■. 

'-  Tf'rrcra,  lii-t.  (ienerai.  (ic-( .  2,  ii'o.  ^.cap,  2. — Toi  qiicmaua.  Monarch* 
Inch,  u'.n  «ai'  •  a. 

^■'  "E  ccriifico  a  \'uestra  Alte/a.  i[\\f  \oconte  desdc  una  I'-zquita  quatro- 
cientas,  y  tanta*^  Tunes  en  la  dicha  ('iudad,  y  tudas  son  de  Merquitas." 
Rel.  Scg.,  ap.  L(jicn/.aiia,  p.  67. 


-,0  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

huge  Popocatepetl  and  Iztaccihuall  standing  like  two  colossal 
sentineh  to  guard  the  entrance  to  the  enchanted  region.  Far 
away  to  the  east  was  seen  the  conical  head  of  Orizaba  soaring 
high  into  the  clouds,  and  nearer,  the  barren,  though  beautifully 
shaped  Sierra  de  Malinche,  throwing  its  broad  shadows  over  the 
plains  of  Tlascala.  Three  of  these  are  volcanoes  higher  than 
the  highest  mountain  peak  in  Europe,  and  shrouded  in  snows 
which  never  melt  under  the  fierce  sun  of  the  tropics.  At  the 
foot  of  the  spectator  lay  the  sacred  city  of  Cholula,  with  its 
bright  towers  and  pinnacles  sparkling  in  the  sun,  reposing  amidst 
gardens  and  verdant  groves,  which  then  thickly  studded  the 
cultivated  environs  of  the  capital.  Such  was  the  magnificent 
prospect  which  met  the  gaze  of  the  Conquerors,  and  may  still, 
with  slight  change,  meet  that  of  the  modern  traveller,  as  from 
the  platform  of  the  great  pyramid  his  eye  wanders  over  the 
fairest  portion  of  the  beautiful  plateau  of  Puebla.^* 

But  it  is  time  to  return  to  Tlascala,  On  the  appointed  morn- 
ing, the  Spanish  army  took  up  its  march  to  Mexico  by  the  way 
of  Cholula.  It  was  followed  by  crowds  of  the  citizens,  filled 
with  admiration  at  the  intrepidity  of  men  who,  so  few  in  number, 
would  venture  to  brave  the  great  Montezuma  in  his  capital.  Yet 
an  immense  body  of  warriors  offered  to  share  the  dangers  of  the 
expedition  ;  but  Cortds,  while  he  showed  his  gratitude  for  theii 
good-will,  selected  only  six  thousand  of  the  volunteers  to  beat 
him  company.^^     He  was   unwilling  to  encumber  himself  with 

^^  The  city  of  Puebla  de  los  Angeles  was  found  by  the  Spaniards  soon  after 
the  Conquest,  on  the  site  of  an  insignificant  village  ni  the  territory  of  Cholula, 
a  few  miles  to  the  east  of  that  capital.  It,  is,  perhaps,  the  most  considera- 
ble city  in  New  Spain,  after  Mexico  itself,  which  it  rivals  in  beauty.  It  seems, 
to  have  inherited  the  religious  preeminence  of  the  ancient  Cholula,  being 
distinguished,  like  her,  for  the  number  and  splendor  of  its  churches,  the 
multitude  of  its  clergy,  and  the  magnificence  of  its  ceremonies  and  festivals. 
These  are  fully  displayed  in  the  pages  of  travellers,  who  have  passed 
fhrough  the  place  on  the  usual  route  from  Vera  Cruz  to  the  capital.  (See 
in  particular,  Bullock's  Mexico,  vol.  I.  chap.  6.)  The  environs  of  Cholula, 
still  irrigated  as  in  the  days  of  the  Aztecs,  are  equally  remarkable  for  the 
fraitfulness  of  the  soil.  The  best  wheat  lands,  according  to  a  very  respect- 
able authority,  yield  in  the  proportion  of  eighty  for  one.  Ward's  Mexico, 
vol.  II.  p.  270. — See,  also,  Humboldt,  Essai  Polique,  tom.  II,  p.  158  ;  torn. 
IV.  p.  330. 

1'  According  to  Cortes,  a  hundred  thousand  men  offered  their  services  oa 
this  occasion  !  "  E  puesto  que  yo  ge  lo  defendiesse,  y  rogue  que  no  fuessen, 
porque  no  habia  necesidad,  todavia  me  siguieron  hasta  cien  mil  Hombres 
muy  bien  aderezados  de  Guerra,  y  llegdron  con  migo  hasta  dos  leguas  de  la 
Ciudad:  y  desde  alli  por  mucha  importnnidad  mia  se  bolvi^ron,  aunque  to- 
davia quedaron  en  mi  compafiia  hasta  cinco  6  seis  mil  de  ellos."  Rel.  Seg., 
ap.  Lorenzana,  p.  64.)  This,  which  must  have  been  nearly  the  whole  fight- 
ing force  of  the  republic,  does  not  startle  Oviedo,  (Hist,  de  las  Ind.,  MS, 
cap,  4,)  nor  Gomara,  Cronica,  cap.  58. 


MARCH  TO  CHOLULA. 


ZZ^ 


ftn  unwieldy  force  that  might  impede  his  movements ;  and  prob- 
ably did  not  care  to  put  himself  so  far  in  ihe  power  of  allies, 
•■viiose  attachment  was  too  recent  to  afford  sufficient  guaranty 
for  their  fidelity. 

After  crossing  some  rough  and  hilly  ground,  the  army  enterec? 
on  the  wide  plain  which  spreads  out  for  miles  around  Choiala. 
At  the  elevation  of  more  than  six  thousand  feet  above  the  sea, 
they  beheld  tiie  ricli  products  of  various  climes  growing  side  by 
side,  fields  of  towering  maize,  the  juicy  aloe,  the  chilU^Qx  Aztec 
pepper,  and  large  plan^atioj-is  of  the  cactus,  on  v. hich  the 
Drilliant  cochinea!  is  nourisiied.  Net  a  rood  of  land  but  v.as 
'j;Kier  cuitivacion  ■ '^  and  the  soil — an  uncommon  thir.g  on  the 
-.able  land — was  irrigated  by  numerous  streams  and  canals,  and 
•Veil  sl"',avied  by  woods,  that  nave  disappeared  before  the  rude 
axe  of  the  Spaniards.  Towards  evening,  thev  reached  a  small 
stream,  on  the  banks  of  which  Cortds  determined  to  take  up  his 
quarters  for  the  niglit,  bemg  unwilling  to  disturb  ihe  tranquillity 
of  the  city  by  introciucing  so  large  a  force  into  '',".  at  .in  unseason- 
able hour. 

WciQ.  he  was  soon  joined  by  a  number  of  Choiulan  caciques 
and  their  attendants,  who  came  to  view  and  welcom.e  the  stran- 
gt^rc-.  When  they  saw  their  I'lascalan  enemies  in  tb.e  camp, 
however,  tliey  e.xhibited  signs  of  displeasure,  and  ititimated  an 
apprehension  tliat  their  presence  in  tht;  town  inigi'jt  occasion 
•■nsordcr.  The  remonstrance  seemed  reasonable  to  Cong's,  and 
\\K  accotdingly  cf.'mmandjd  his  allies  to  remain  in  ilicir  present 
cuanerf.,  and  to  ioin  inin  as  he  left  the  citv  on  the  v/av  to 
Slt^x'co. 

On  the  following  if-oir;ing,  he  made  his  entrance  at  liie  head 
•  ,f  ii;s  army  into  Choluia.  aiiended  by  no  otiior  Incuans  than 
those  from  Cem.poalia.  ana  a  handful  of  'i';a:;caiar;>.  to  lake 
charge  ■■J.  liie  baggag..  ills  aides,  at  partiUj;'.  gave  Irm  many 
•^autton.-;  respecting  the  jjcople  he  was  to  \:.sl^  viho.  \.  :uie  tliey 
affected  to  despise  them  ;i>  a  nation  <A  tra^f'fs.  employed  the 
dangerous  arms  of  perfidy  anti  cunning.  .As  tiic  tioop'i,  (irew 
near  the  city,  the  read  wa.j  lined  wiin.  .^v.ainis  oi  pe('|;'e  of  both 
st.vcsand  ever\  a^e,  old  men  t«;;teiing  witli  iiUiin-', ;. .  uon\en 
with  children  in  tlie;r  a:ii;:-.  u'.\  eager  \n  catch  a  gdm;-.-e  of  the 
T-;rangt;rs,  v.ho.-x-  person.,,  \\<-..\j)\^>.  and  h^r.-^es  were  '  bjects  of 
1  !"ei.be  curio-ity  t;  t\"LS  wlti'  1.  !,.:d  :i'>t  li'thert''  ^ne-amtered 
i.ieun  in  battle.  The  Spariaro--.  \\\  •urn,  were  idled  v.iih  admi- 
ration at  the  as[)ecl  cA  \\\v.  (  hfdadans,  much  siipeiior  in  dress 
and  ge:iC.''al  ajjjjearance    tc'    the    iMtioi^-j  they  had  hitherto  seen. 

^*  The  words  of  the  ('(■>iqui.'iJo:  :irc\i;  strr)n,Lr<-r.  "  Ni  on />«;'/;;  o  de  tierr* 
bay   c^ue  no  este  labrada.''     l-'ii.  .'"•ly.,  ai).  Lortn/.ana,  p.  67. 


332 


MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 


They  were   particularly  struck   with  the   costume   of  the  higher 

classes,  who  wore  fine  embroidered  mantles,  resembling  the 
graceful  albornoz,  or  Moorish  cloak,  in  their  texture  and  fashion. i' 
They  showed  the  same  delicate  taste  for  flowers  as  the  other 
tribes  of  the  plateau,  decorating  their  persons  with  them,  and 
tossing  garlands  and  bunches  among  the  soldiers.  An  immense 
number  of  priests  mingled  with  the  crowd,  swinging  their  aro- 
matic censers,  while  music  from  various  kinds  of  instruments 
gave  a  lively  welcome  to  the  visitors,  and  made  the  whole  scene 
one  of  gay,  bewildering  enchantment.  If  it  did  not  have  the  air  of 
a  triumphal  procession  so  much  as  at  Tlascala,  where  the  melody 
of  instruments  was  drowned  by  the  shouts  of  the  multitude,  it 
gave  a  quiet  assurance  of  hospitality  and  friendly  feeling  not 
less  grateful. 

The  Spaniards  were  also  struck  with  the  cleanliness  of  the 
city,  the  width  and  great  regularity  of  the  streets,  which  seemed 
to  have  been  laid  out  on  a  settled  plan,  with  the  solidity  of  the 
houses,  and  the  number  and  size  of  the  pyramidal  temples.  In 
the  court  of  one  of  these,  and  its  surrounding  buildings,  they 
were  quartered.^ 

They  were  soon  visited  by  the  principal  lords  of  the  place, 
who  seemed  solicitous  to  provide  them  with  accommodations. 
Their  table  was  plentifully  supplied,  and,  in  short,  they  experi- 
enced such  attentions  as  were  calculated  to  dissipate  their  sus- 
picions, and  made  them  impute  those  of  their  Tlascalan  friends 
to  prejudice  and  old  national  hostility. 

In  a  few  days  the  scene  changed.     Messengers  arrived  from 

^^  "  Los  honrados  ciudadanos  de  ella  todos  trahen  albornocti,  encima  de  la 
otra  ropa,  aunque  sondiferenciados  de  losde  Africa,  porque  tienen  maneras; 
pero  en  la  hechura  y  tela  y  los  rapacejos  soi\  muy  semejables."  Rel.  Seg.  de 
Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana.  p.  67. 

i^Ibid.,  p.  67.— Ixtl'ilxochitl,  Hist.  Cliich.,  MS.,  cap.  84.— Oviedo,  Hist. 
de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  t^-}^^  cap.  4. — Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista, 
cap.  82, 

The  Spaniards  compared  Cholula  to  the  beautitul  Valladolid,  according 
to  Herrera,  whose  description  of  the  entry  is  very  animated.  "  Salieronlc 
otro  dia  ^  recibir  mas  de  diez  mil  ciudadanos  en  diversas  tropas,  con  rosas, 
flores,  pan,  aves,  i  fruitas,  i  mucha  miisica.  Llegaba  vn  es([uadron  a  dar  la 
bien  llegada  a  Hernando  Cortes,  i    con  buenaorden  se  iba  apartando,  dando 

lugar  a  que  otro  Ilegase. En  Ilegando  a  la  ciudad,  que    pareci6 

mucho  a  los  Castellanos,  en  el  asiento,  i  perspectiva,  a  Valladolid,  salio  la 
demas  gente,  quedando  mui  espantada  de  ver  las  figuras,  talles,  i  armas  dc 
los  Castellanos.  Sali^ron  los  sacerdotes  con  vestiduras  blancas,  como 
sobrepellices,  i  algunas  cerradas  por  delante,  los  bracos  defuera,  con  fluecos 
de  algoden  en  las  orillas.  Unos  llevaban  figuras  de  idolos  en  las  manos, 
otros  sahumerios  ;  otros  tocaban  cornetas,  atabalejos,  i  diver»as  miisicas,  i 
todos  iban  cantando,  i  llegaban  a  encensar  a  I03  Castellanos.  Con  esta 
t^mpa  cntraron  en  Chuiula."     Hist.  General,  dec.  3,  lib.  7,  cap.  i. 


COXSriKA  C  \ '  DE  72- 


zzz 


MoHtteZuma,  who,  after  a  short  and  unpleasant  intimation  to 
Cortdb  that  his  approach  occasioned  much  disquietude  to  their 
jnaster,  conferred  separately  with  the  Mexican  ambassadors  still 
m  the  Castilian  camp,  and  then  departed,  taking  one  of  the 
latter  along  with  them.  From  this  time,  the  deportment  of  iheir 
Cholulan  hosts  underweni  a  visible  alteration.  They  did  not 
visit  the  quarters  as  bekjre.  and,  when  invited  to  do  so,  excused 
themsc!\"es  on  pretence  of  iiiness.  The  supply  of  provisions  was 
stinted,  on  the  ground  thnt  they  were  short  of  maize.  These 
sympttims  of  alienatio;:.  indcpendenilv  of  temporan-  ^-mbarrass- 
nient,  caused  serious  alarm  in  the  breast  of  Cortes,  for  the 
future.  His  apprehensions  were  nor  alla\cd  by  the  reiiorts  of 
ihe  Cchipi'L'.lians.  '.vho  toal  L;ni,  ihat  in  wandering  round  the 
City,  liiey  had  seen  several  s:r'..eis  barricaded,  the  azoteas.  or 
fi,\t  roofs  of  the  houses,  loaded  with  huge  s:o!'.;_s  and  other 
missiles,  a-;  if  preparatory  to  an  assault,  and  in  some  places  they 
had  found  holes  c' vered  over  with  branches,  and  upright  stakes 
planted  with.in,  as  if  to  embarrass  the  movements  of  tiie  cavalry .~ 
Some  Tiascaians  coming  in,  also,  from  their  camp,  informed  the 
general,  that  a  great  sacritice,  mostly  of  children,  had  been  offered 
up  in  a  distant  quarter  of  the  tov>-n,  to  propitiate  the  favor  of  the 
gods,  apparently  tor  some  intended  enterprise.  They  added, 
that  they  had  seen  ^lumders  of  the  citizens  leaving  tlie  citv  v/ith 
their  women  and  children,  as  if  to  remove  t.^em  to  a  i:)lace  of 
safety.  These  tiding;;  contlrmed  the  worst  suspicions  oi  Corres, 
who  had  ito  doubt  that  some  hostile  scheme  was  in  agitation. 
If  he  had  felt  any,  a  discovery  by  iNIarina,  the  good  aiigel  oii  the 
expedition,  would  have  turiied  these  doubts  in;o  certainty. 

'i'he  amiable  manners  of  ihe  Indian  girl  liad  won  her  the  re- 
gard of  the  wife  of  one  tti  the  caciques,  v,ho  repeatedly  urged 
iMarina  to  visir  her  housr-,  darkly  intimating  that  in  tliis  way  she 
would  escape  tiie  fate  t'.iat  awaited  the  Sjiariiards.  Tiie  inter- 
preter, seeing  the  importance  of  obtaining  furih.er  inteliigence  at 
once,  prctencied  to  be  pleased  with  the  proposal,  and  aifected, 
at  the  same  time,  great  disro!itent  wi'hi  the  wliite  nu  i..  bv  whom 
she  was  detained  in  captivity  Thus  thrt)wing  the  credu.ous 
(Jholulan  oif  her  guard,  M;u-ifja  gradurdly  insinuated  p.c!-.->elf  into 
her  confidence,  so  far  as  to  diawfrom  her  the  fui:  ;n  count  of 
the  conspiracy. 

^1  Cortcs,  indeed,  noticed  the-e  sawio  alarnijiR  ap]Kar.-incc5  tin  lii.->  entering 
the  citv,  tiin.s  suggesting  the  I'ica  •  <\  ;i  );reni';uit;ucd  treach';rv.  •'  Y  en  Ci 
camino' toputnos  niuchas  senalcs.  de  las  ouc  io3  Naturales  d-^  es':i  Provincia 
ros  habian  dicho:  por  que  ji'dlanios  ^i  rumino  real  ccrrado.  •.■  hecho  otru 
f  alpuno.s  hovos  aunque  no  muchi).--,  y  algunas  calle.s  de  la  ciiuiad  tapiadas, 
y  muchas  piedras  en  toda-S  Ins,  Azutcu-.  ^'  cor.  e.'-to  nos  hicier^n  estar  ioa« 
Bobre  aviso,  y  a  mayor  recaiKio."     Rci.  Seg.,  aj;.  l.oreii/ana,  p    6-. 


224  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

It  originated,  she  said,  with  the  Aztec  emperor,  who  had  sent 
rich  bribes  to  the  great  caciques,  and  to  her  husband  among 
others,  to  secure  them  in  his  views.  The  Spaniards  were  to  \ 
assaulted  as  they  marched  out  of  the  capital,  when  entangled  in 
its  streets,  in  which  numerous  impediments  had  been  placed  to 
throw  the  cavalry  into  disorder.  A  force  of  twenty  thousand 
Mexicans  was  already  quartered  at  no  great  distance  from  the 
city  ;  to  support  the  Cholulans  in  the  assault.  It  was  confidently 
expected  that  the  Spaniards,  thus  embarrassed  in  their  move- 
ments, would  fall  an  easy  prey  to  the  superior  strength  of  their 
enemy.  A  sufBcient  number  of  prisoners  was  to  be  reserved  to 
grace  the  sacrifices  of  Cholula ;  the  rest  were  to  be  led  in  fetters 
to  the  capital  of  Montezuma. 

While  this  conversation  was  going  on,  Marina  occupied  herself 
with  putting  up  such  articles  of  value  and  wearing  apparel  as 
she  proposed  to  take  with  her  in  the  evening,  when  she  could 
escape  unnoticed  from  the  Spanish  quarters  to  the  house  of  her 
Cholulan  friend,  who  assisted  her  in  the  operation.  Leaving  her 
visitor  thus  employed,  Marina  found  an  opportunity  to  steal  away 
for  a  few  moments,  and,  going  to  the  general's  apartment,  dis- 
closed to  him  her  discoveries.  He  immediately  caused  the  ca- 
ciqr.e's  wife  to  be  seized,  and  on  examination,  she  fully  confirmed 
the  stateineiit  of  his  Indian  mistress. 

The  intelligence  thus  gathered  by  Cortds  filled  him  with  the 
deepest  alarm.  He  was  fairly  taken  in  the  snare.  To  fight  or 
to  fly  seemed  equally  difficult.  He  was  in  a  city  of  enemies,  where 
every  house  might  be  converted  into  a  fortress,  and  where  such 
embarrassments  were  thrown  in  the  way,  as  might  render  the 
manceuvres  of  his  artillery  and  horse  nearly  impracticable.  In 
addition  to  the  wily  Cholulans,  he  must  cope,  under  all  these  dis- 
advantages, with  the  redoubtable  warriors  of  Mexico.  He  was 
like  a  traveller  who  has  lost  his  way  in  the  darkness  among  prec- 
ipices, where  any  step  may  dash  him  to  pieces,  and  where  to 
retreat  or  to  advance  is  equally  perilous. 

He  was  desirous  to  obtain  still  further  confirmation  and  par- 
ticulars of  the  conspiracy.  He  accordingly  induced  two  of  the 
priests  in  the  neighborhood,  one  of  them  a  person  of  much  in- 
fluence in  ihe  place,  to  visit  his  quarters.  By  courteous  treatment, 
and  libera!  largesses  of  the  rich  presents  he  had  received  from 
Montezuma, — thus  turning  his  own  gifts  against  the  giver, — he 
drew  from  them  a  full  confirmation  of  the  previous  report.  The 
emperor  had  been  in  a  state  of  pitiable  vacillation  since  the  ar- 
rival of  the  Spaniards.  His  first  orders  to  the  Cholulans  were, 
to  receive  the  strangers  kindly.  He  had  recently  consulted  his 
oracles  anew,  and  obtained  for  answer,  that  Cholula  would  be  the 


CONSPIRA  C  Y  DE  TEC  TED.  3  j  j 

|;Tave  of  his  cnemie&  ■.  for  the  gods  would  be  sure  to  support  him 
in  avenging  che  sacrilege  offered  to  the  Holy  City.  So  con- 
fident were  the  Aztecs  of  success,  that  numerous  manacles,  or 
poles  with  thongs  which  served  as  such,  were  already  in  the  place 
to  secure  the  prisoners. 

Corte's,  now  feeling  himself  fully  possessed  of  the  facts,  dis- 
missed the  priests,  with  injunctions  of  secrecy,  scarcely  necessary. 
He  told  ihem  it  was  his  purpose  to  leave  the  city  on  the  following 
morning,  and  requested  that  they  would  induce  some  of  the  prin- 
cipal caciques  to  grant  him  an  interview  in  his  quarters.  He  then 
summoned  a  council  of  his  officers,  though,  as  it  seems,  already 
determined  as  to  the  course  he  ivas  to  take. 

The  members  of  the  council  were  differently  affected  by  the 
startling  intelligence,  according  to  their  different  characters. 
The  more  timid,  disheartened  by  the  prospect  of  obstacles  which 
seemed  to  multiply  as  they  drew  nearer  the  Mexican  capital, 
where  for  retracing  their  steps,  and  seeking  shelter  in  the  friendly 
city  of  Tlascala.  Others,  more  persevering,  but  prudent,  were  for 
taking  the  more  northerly  route,  originally  reconunended  by  their 
allies.  The  greater  part  supported  the  general,  who  was  ever  of 
opinion  that  they  had  no  alternative  but  to  advance.  Retreat 
would  be  ruin.  Half-way  measures  were  scarcely  better ;  and 
would  infer  a  timidity  which  must  discredit  them  with  both  friend 
and  foe.  Their  true  policv  was  to  rely  on  themselves;  to  strike 
8uch  a  blow,  as  should  inrtmidate  their  enemies,  and  show  them 
that  the  Sjmniards  were  as  incapable  of  being  circumvented  by 
artifice,  as  of  being  crushed  by  weight  of  numbers  and  courage 
in  the  open  field. 

When  the  caciques,  persuaded  by  the  priests,  appeared  before 
Cortds,  he  contented  himself  with  gently  rebuking  their  want  of 
hospitality,  and  assured  them  the  Spaniards  would  be  no  longer 
a  burden  to  tiieir  ciry,  as  he  proposed  to  leave  it  early  on  the  fol- 
lowing morning.  He  requested,  moreover,  that  they  would  fur- 
nish a  reinf(3rcement  of  two  thousand  men  to  transport  his  artillery 
and  baggage.  The  chiefs,  after  some  consultation,  acquiesced 
in  a  demand  which  might  in  some  measure  favor  their  own  de- 
signs. 

On  their  departure,  the  general  summoned  the  Aztec  ambas- 
sadors before  him.  He  brielly  acquainted  them  with  his  detection 
of  the  treacherous  plot  to  destroy  Iiis  army,  the  contrivance  of 
which,  he  said,  was  imputed  to  their  master,  Montezuma,  h 
grieved  him  much,  he  added,  to  find  the  emperor  implicated  in 
so  nefarious  a  sclieme,  and  that  tlie  Spaniards  must  now  marth 
as  enemies  against  the  prince,  whom  they  had  hoped  to  visit  as 
a  friend. 


40^ 


MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 


The  ambassadors,  with  earnest  protestations,  asserted  theii 
entire  ignorance  of  the  conspiracy;  and  their  belief  that  Monte- 
zuma was  equally  innocent  of  a  crime,  which  they  charged  wholly 
on  the  Cholulans.  It  was  clearly  the  policy  of  Cortds  to  keep  on 
good  terms  with  the  Indian  monarch ;  to  profit  as  long  as  pos- 
sible by  his  good  offices ;  and  to  avail  himself  of  his  fancied 
security — such  feelings  of  security  as  the  general  could  inspire 
him  v.""rh — to  cover  his  own  future  operations.  He  affected  to 
give  credit,  therefore,  to  the  assertion  of  the  envoys,  and  declared 
his  unwiilingness  to  believe,  that  a  monarch,  who  had  rendered 
the  Spaniards  so  many  friendly  offices,  would  now  consummate 
the  whole  by  a  deed  of  such  unparalleled  baseness.  The  dis- 
covery of  their  twofold  duplicity,  he  added,  sharpened  his  resent- 
ment against  the  Cholulans,  on  whom  he  would  take  such  ven- 
geance as  should  amplv  requite  the  injuries  done  both  to  Monte- 
zuma and  the  Spaniards.  He  then  dismissed  the  ambassadors, 
taking  care,  notwithstanding  this  show  of  confidence,  to  place  a 
strong  guard  over  them,  to  pi  event  communication  with  the 
ritizens.'^' 

Thar  n'ght  v^as  one  of  deep  anxiet)  co  the  army.  The  ground 
tbry  stood  on  seemed  loosening;  bener;:h  tiiO!'''  t;iet,  and  any 
7-:ir>:nent  m:'.-]"!:  be  the  one  marked  (or  thfrir  des':rviCtion.  Their 
Vi;;'.a-;t  general  look  all  p';Ssibio  prt';aiK:0'-'S  for  their  safety,  in- 
creasing li;-  n'.nnber  of  the  .^entmels.  ar-,;)  posf.ng  his  guns  m 
f-ucl'i  a  manner  as  to  pi'otect  the  "pproaclies  to  the  camp.  His 
eyes,  it  may  Nveli  be  believed,  did  not  clo<e  during  the  night. 
Indeed,  e\'ery  Spaniard  lay  down  in  his  arms,  and  every  horse 
stood  saddled  and  bridled,  reaclv  for  instant  service.  Tint  no  as- 
EarJi  was  nieditared  bv  the  Tndians.  and  the  stillness  of  the  hour 
v.as  undisturbed  exce])t  by  the  occasional  sounds  heard  in  a  pop- 
ulous city,  even  when  buried  in  slumbei,  and  by  the  hoarse  cnes 
01  tile  or.c/LS  iron,  the  tiirreis  of  the  teocai/is,  proclaiming  through 
liieir  t.'unip'-ts  tne  watches  of  the  nigiu,-'-' 

^  P-ernai  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista.  cap.  8  ?.,  --Goinara,  Cronica.  cap. 
','-}. — Ri:.  Scg.  de  C'jrtts,  ap.  I_,urenzana,  p.  65. —  i'or'jucmada,  Monarch. 
T  d.,  lib'  4,  Ta;).  39. — O.ledo.  Hist,  de  las  Tnd..  M.S.,  li'x  8;.  cap.  4. — 
.Mart/r,  De  tjriic  Novo,  dec.  5,  cap.  2. — Herrera,  ilist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib. 
V  cap.  1. — Argensola,  Anaies,  lib.  1,  cap.  85. 

"'  "(.^s  hoias  de  la  noche  las  regulaban  per  las  e.streila.s,  y  tocaban  loc 
n'.inislros  del  tempk;  que  estaban  destinados  para  e.ste  fin,  ciertos  instru- 
r'.entos  come  vocinas,  con  que  hacian  conocer  all,  pueblo  ei  tiempo.* 
tiaraa,  Descr  pcion,  Parte  I  p.  14. 


TERRIBLE  MASSACRE, 


111 


CHAPTER  VIL 

Tbrrible  Massacre, — Tranquillity  Restored. — REFLECTiONf- 
oN  THE  Massacre. — Further  Proceedings. — Envoys  FRO-%i 
Montezuma. 

With  the  first  streak  of  morning  light,  Cortes  was  seen  or, 
horseback,  (litecting  the  movements  of  his  little  band.  The 
Strength  of  his  forces  he  drew  up  in  the  great  square  or  court, 
surrounded  partly  by  buildings,  as  before  noticed,  and,  in  part  b) 
a  high  wall.  There  were  three  gates  of  entrance,  at  each  o. 
which  he  placed  a  strong  guard.  The  rest  of  his  troops,  will, 
his  great  guns,  he  posted  without  the  inclosure,  in  such  a  man 
ner  as  to  command  the  avenues  and  secure  those  within  from 
interruption  in  their  bloodv  work.  Orders  had  been  sent  the 
niglu  before  to  the  Thiscalan  chiefs  to  hold  themselves  readw 
at  a  concerted  signal,  to  march  into  the  city  and  join  the  Span- 
iards. 

The  arrangements  were  hardly  coinpleted,  before  the  Cholulan. 
caciques  appeared,  leading  a  body  of  levies,  tamanes,  even  more 
mmierous  than  had  been  demanded.  They  were  marched,  a' 
once,  into  the  square,  commanded,  as  we  have  seen,  by  the  Span 
ish  infantry  whicli  was  drawn  up  under  the  walls.  Cortes  then 
took  some  of  the  caciques  aside.  With  a  stern  air,  he  bluntly 
charged  them  with  the  conspiracy,  showing  that  he  was  well  ac- 
quainted with  all  the  particulars.  He  had  visited  their  city,  he 
said,  at  the  invitation  of  their  emperor;  had  come  as  a  friend  ; 
had  respected  the  inhabitants  and  their  property ;  and,  to  avoid 
all  cause  of  umbrage,  had  left  a  great  part  of  his  forces  without 
the  walls.  They  had  received  him  with  a  show  of  kindness  ami 
hospitality,  and,  reposing  on  this,  he  had  been  decoyed  into  tiie 
snare,  and  found  this  kindness  only  a  mask  to  cover  the  blackest 
perfidy. 

The  Cholulans  were  thunderstruck  at  the  accusation.  Ar, 
undefined  awe  crept  over  them,  as  they  gazed  on  tlie  mysierions 
Strangers,  and  felt  themselves  in  the  presence  of  beings  wlvj 
seemed  to  have  the  power  of  reading  the  thoughts  scarr,-!y 
formed  in  their  bosoms.     There  was  no  use  in   prevarication    >: 


338  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

denial  before  such  judges.     They  confessed  the  whole,  and  en- 

clcavored  to  excuse  themselves  by  throwing  the  blame  on 
i\Iontezuma.  Cortds,  assuming  an  air  of  higher  indignation  at 
this,  assured  them  that  the  pretence  should  not  serve,  since, 
even  if  well  founded,  it  would  be  no  justification;  and  he  would 
now  make  such  an  example  of  them  for  their  treachery,  that  the 
report  of  it  should  ring  throughout  the  wide  borders  of  Anahuac  ! 

The  fatal  signal,  the  discharge  of  an  arqueliuse,  was  then 
given.  In  an  instant  every  musket  and  crossbow  was  levelled 
at  the  unfortunate  Cholulans  in  the  court-yard,  and  a  frightful 
volley  poured  into  them  as  they  stood  crowded  togemer  like  a 
herd  of  deer  in  the  centre.  They  were  taken  by  surprise,  for 
they  had  not  heard  the  preceding  dialogue  with  the  chiefs.  They 
made  scarcely  any  resistance  to  the  Spaniards,  who  followed  up  the 
discharge  of  tiieir  pieces  by  rushing  en  them  v/ith  their  swords ; 
and  as  the  half-naked  bodies  of  the  natives  afforded  no  protection, 
they  hewed  them  down  with  as  muc  ease  as  the  reaper  mows  down 
the  ripe  corn  in  harvest  time.  Son  t  endeavored  to  scale  the  walls, 
but  only  afforded  a  surer  mark  to  the  arquebusiers  and  archer.^. 
Others  threw  themselves  into  the  gateways,  but  were  received  on 
the  long  ;.ikes  of  the  soldiers  who  guarded  thcin.  Some  few  had 
b.. fer  luck  in  hidirig  tiieniselves  under  the  heaps  of  slain  with 
which  the  gr  -und  w.o,  sr.'on  loaded. 

While  this  work  of  death  was  going  on,  the  countrvmen  of  the 
fl  'u:;h:cred  Indians,  drawn  together  by  the  noise  of  the  mas- 
sacre-, had  comiVienced  a  furioas  assault  on  the  Spaniards  from 
vi:hout.  But  Corle'b  had  placed  his  battery  of  ht.-av\-  guns  in  a 
];  iit'on  'hat  commanded  the  avenues,  and  swept  off  the  fries  ot 
ihe  assaihints  as  they  nsedied  on.  In  the  intervals  between  the 
di:  :harges,  which,  m  th.e  imperfect  state  of  the  science  in  that 
d;,),  were  much  longer  than  in  ours,  he  forced  back  the  press  by 
chr.iging  with  the  hovsc  in'o  tht:  rnidst.  The  steeds,  the  guns, 
the  wea.;ons  ot  the  Spaniard,--  wtre  all  new  to  ike  Cholulans. 
Notwith.standinr,;  the  noveliv  of  th';  terrific  spectacle,  the  flash  of 
of  fire-arms  nii;o.,iij  g  whh  tiie  deafening  roar  of  the  artillery  as 
its  thunders  reverberated  among  the  buildings,  the  despairing 
Indians  punned  on  to  take  the  places  of  their  fallen  comrades. 

While  this  fierce  struggle  vras  going  forward,  the  Tlascalans, 
hearing  the  concerted  signal,  had  advanced  with  quick  pace  into 
tire  city.  They  had  b^mnd,  by  order  of  Cortes,  wreaths  of  sedge 
r'-'ind  their  heads,  that  they  might  the  more  surely  be  distin- 
guished from  tire  Cholulans.-^     Comdng  up  in  the  ver}'  heat  of  the 

^"  U?aron  los  de  Tlaxcaila  de  un  aviso  niuy  bueno  y  les  di'i  TTernaiido 
Cortes  porque  fuer.in  conocidos  y  no  morir  entre  los  enemigos  per  yerro, 
porque  susarmas  y  divisas  eran  casideuna  manera y  ansi  sc  pusiron^ 


TRAXQUILLITY  RESTORED.  339 

engagement,  they  fell  on  the  defenceless  rear  of  the  townsmen, 
who,  trampled  down  under  the  heels  of  the  Castilian  cavalry  on 
one  side,  and  galled  by  their  vindictive  enemies  on  the  other, 
could  no  longer  maintain  their  ground.  They  gave  way,  some 
taking  refuge  in  the  nearest  buildings,  which,  being  partly  of 
wood,  were  speedily  set  on  fire.  Others  lied  to  the  temples.  One 
strong  party,  wiih  a  number  of  priests  at  its  head,  got  possession 
of  the  great  tcocalU.  There  was  a  vulgar  tradition,  already  alluded 
to,  that  on  removal  of  part  of  the  walls,  the  god  would  send 
fonh  an  inundation  to  overwhelm  his  enemies.  The  supersti- 
tious Cholulans  with  great  difficulty  succeeded  in  wrenching  away 
some  of  the  stones  in  the  walls  of  the  edifice.  But  dust,  not 
water,  followed.  Their  false  god  deserted  them  in  the  hour  of 
need.  In  u-,^spair  they  flung  themselves  into  the  wooden  turrets 
that  crowned  the  temple,  and  poured  down  stones,  javelins,  and 
burning  arrows  on  the  Spaniards,  as  they  climbed  the  great 
staircase,  whicli,  by  a  fliglit  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  steps, 
scaled  the  face  of  ihc  pyramid.  But  the  fiery  shower  fell  harm- 
less on  the  steel  'bonnets  of  the  (Christians,  while  they  availed 
themselves  of  the  burning  shafts  to  set  fire  to  the  wooden  cita- 
del, which  was  speedily  wrapt  in  flames.  Still  the  garrison 
held  out,  and  though  quarter,  //  is  said,  was  offered,  only  one 
Cholulan  availed  iiimself  of  ii.  The  rest  threw  themselves  head- 
long from  the  parapet,  or  perished  miserably  in  the  flames." 

All  was  nov,-  confusion  and  uproar  in  the  fair  city  which  had 
so  lately  reposed  in  security  and  peace.  The  groans  of  the  dying, 
the  frantic  supplications  of  the  vanquished  for  mercy,  were 
mingled  with  the  loud  battle-cries  of  the  Spaniards  as  they  rode 
down  their  eneiny,  and  with  the  slirill  whistle  of  the  Tlascalans, 
who  gave  full  scope  to  the  long  cherished  rancor  of  ancient 
rivalry.  The  tumult  was  still  further  swelled  by  the  incessant 
rattle  of  musketry,  and  the  crash  of  falling  timbers,  which  sent 
up  a  volume  of  flame  that  outshone  the  ruddy  light  of  morning, 
making  all  together  a  hideous  confusion  of  sights  and  sounds, 
that  converted  the  Holy  City  into  a  Pandemonium.  As  resist- 
ance slackened,  the  victors  broke  into  the  houses  and  sacred 
places,  plundering  them  of  whatever  valuables  they  contained, 
plate,  jewels,  wiiich  were  found  in  some  quantity,  wearing  a[> 
parel  and  provisions,  the  two  last  coveted  even  more  than  the 
fr^rmer  by  the  simjjlc  'I'lascalans,   thus  facilitating  a  division  of 

en  las  cabezas  unas  guirnalcias  dc  esparto  k  manera  cie  torzales,  y  con 
esto  eran  coiujcidos  los  cic  luicstra  i)arciali(lad  que  110  fue  pec(ueno  aviso.'' 
Camargo,  Hist,  de  Tla^^cala,  .MS. 

-Camargo,  Hist,  fie  Tlasc  ai.i,  MS. — Ovit'do,  Hist,  de  la.slnd.,  MS.,  lib. 
T,''-,.  cap.  4,  .('. — Tfir')iieiiiari.i,  .Monarch.  Inii.,  lib.  4,  caj).  40. — Ixtlilxochiti 
iiibt.  (Jhich..  MS,,  ';ap.  84.— (.ioiiiara,  Cronica,  cap.  60. 


34° 


MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 


the  spoil  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  their  Christian  confederates. 
Amidst  this  universal  license,  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  the  com- 
mands of  Cortds  were  so  far  respected  that  no  violence  was 
offered  to  women  or  children,  though  these,  as  well  as  numbers 
of  the  men,  were  made  prisoners  to  be  swept  into  slavery  by  the 
Tlascalans.  These  scenes  of  violence  had  lasted  some  hours, 
when  Cortds,  moved  by  the  entreaties  of  some  Cholulau  chiefs, 
who  had  been  reserved  from  the  massacre,  backed  by  the  prayers 
of  the  Mexican  envoys,  consented,  out  of  regard,  as  he  said, 
to  the  latter,  the  representatives  of  Montezuma,  to  call  off  the 
soldiers,  an.d  put  a  stop,  as  well  as  he  could,  to  further  outrage. 
Two  of  the  caciques  were,  also,  permitted  to  go  to  their  coun- 
trymen with  assurances  of  pardon  and  protection  to  all  who 
would  return  to  their  obedience. 

These  measures  had  their  effect.  By  the  joint  efforts  of  Cortes 
and  the  caciques,  the  tumult  was  with  much  difficulty  appeased. 
The  assailants,  Spaniards  and  Indians,  gathered  under  their  re- 
spective banners,  and  the  Cholulans,  relying  on  the  assurance 
of  their    chiefs,  gradually  returned  to  their  homes. 

The  first  act  of  Cortds  was,  to  prevail  on  the  Tlascal-m  chiefs 
to  liberate  their  captives.'*  Such  was  their  deference  to  the 
Spanish  commander  that  they  acquiesced,  though  not  without 
murmurs,  contenting  themselves,  as  they  best  could,  with  the 
rich  spoil  rifled  from  the  Cholulans,  consisting  of  various  luxuries 
long  since  unknown  in  Tlascala.  His  next  care  was  to  cleanse 
the  city  from  its  loathsome  impuriiifs,  particularly  from  the  dead 
bodies  v.'hich  lay  fe':-teri;\g  iw  heaps  in  t'^jc  streets  and  great 
square.  The  general,  in  his  letter  to  Charles  the  Fifth,  admits 
three  thousand  slain,  most  accounts  say  six,  and  some  swell  the 
amount  yet  higher.  As  the  eldest  and  priiicipal  cacique  was 
among  the  number,  Cortes  absisted  the  Cholulans  in  installing  a 
successor  in  his  place.''  Bv  these  pacific  measures  confidence 
was  gradually  restored.  Tiie  people  in  the  environs,  reassured, 
flocked  IulO  the  capital  to  su-}pl';  the  jdnre  of  the  diminished 
population.  The  markets  were  again  c>pened  ;  and  the  usual 
avocations  of  an  orderlv,  industrious  community  were  resumed. 
Still,  the  long  piles  of  black  and  smouldering  ruins  proclaimed 
the  hurricane  which  had  so  latel}'   swept  over  the   city,  and  the 

'"'  Mataron  casi  seis  mil  perscnas  sin  tocar  &  ninos  ni  mugere>.  jDorque 
.*3i  se  les  ordeno."     Herrera.  Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  7,  cap.  2. 

*  Ikrnal  Diaz.  Mist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  83.— Ixtlilxochtil,  His:.  Chick., 
MS.,  ubi  supra. 

^  IJernal  I);tz,  Hist,  de  la  ConcpaJsta.  cap.  83. 

Tiie  descendants  of  the  princitiai  Choiulan  cacique  are  iivinp,'  at  tiiis  day 
in  T'uebla,  according  to  Kiistama.ri^e,  See  fiomara.  Cronic.  /•-,•  ^ uf  Chnatl' 
fain,  (Mexico,  I026, )  torn.  I.  ;.'.  qS,  not:;. 


iiSFLECTIONS  ON  THE  MASSACRE.  341 

walls  surrounding  the  scene  of  slaughter  in  the  great  square, 
wliich  were  standing  more  than  titiy  years  after  the  event,  told 
the  sad  tale  of  the  Niassacre  of  Cholula.'^ 

This  passage  in  their  history  is  one  of  those  that  have  left  a 
dark  stain  on  the  memory  of  the  Conquerors.  Nor  can  we 
contemplate  at  this  day,  without  a  shudder,  the  condition  of  this 
fair  and  flourishing  capital  thus  invaded  in  its  privacy,  and 
delivered  over  to  the  excesses  of  a  rude  and  ruthless  soldiery. 
But,  to  judge  the  action  fairly,  we  must  transport  ourselves  to 
the  age  when  it  happened.  The  difficulty  that  meets  us  in  the 
outset  is,  to  find  a  justification  of  the  right  of  conquest,  at  alL 
But  it  should  be  remembered,  that  religious  infidelity,  at  this 
period,  and  till  a  much  later,  was  regarded — no  matter  whether 
founded  on  ignorance  or  education,  whether  hereditary  or  ac- 
quired, heretical  or  Pagan — as  a  sin  to  be  punished  with  fire 
and  faggot  in  this  world,  and  eternal  suffering  in  the  next. 
This  doctrine,  monstrous  as  it  is,  was  the  creed  of  the  Romish, 
in  other  words,  of   the  Christian  Church, — the  basis    of  the  In- 

'"  Rel.  Reg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  I/Orenzana,  66. — C.-\inargo,  Hist,  de  Tlascala, 
MS. — Ixtiilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cajx  S4.— Oviedo,  Hist,  de  las  Tnd., 
MS.,  lib.  ^3.  cap.  4,  45. — Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  caj).  8j. — Go- 
iiiaia,  Cronica,  cap.  60. — Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Xueva  Espaiia,  MS.,  lib.  12, 
<  ap.  II.  -  _ 

Las  Casas,  in  his  printed  treatise  on  the  Destriictiod  of  the  Indies,  garnishes 
his  acLoinit  of  liicse  transactions  wiili  some  additional  and  rather  startling 
particulars.  According  to  him  Cortes  car.secl  a  hundred  or  more  of  the 
cacique^  to  be  impaled  or  roasted  at  the  stake  I  He  acids  tlie  leport,  that, 
while  the  nia.-53acre  in  the  court-}:ird  -.vas  .uoing  on,  the  Sixanisli  general  re- 
ptatetl  a  -^criip  of  an  old  roma/ur,  describing  Xero  as  rejoicing  over  the 
burning  ruins  of  Rome: 

"  Mira  N'^'-o  de  Tarpeya, 
A  Rorriii  coiiio  se  ardia. 
Gritos  li.Mi  iilfios  y  viejop, 
V  ifl  de  iiada  se  dolia. 

CBievibima  Relacion,  ,).  46.) 

This  is  the  first  instance.  I  suspect,  on  record,  ot  any  person  being  ambi- 
ti(Hi.s  uf  finding  a  jjarallei  for  himscli  m  that  cnqjeior  !  Bernal  l)i...',.  who  had 
seen  "  the  interminable  narrative."  as  he  calls  it.  of  f.as  Cas.i-.  treats  it 
with  great  contempt.  His  own  versic^i — one  of  tiiose  chieflv  foll^nved  in  the 
text — was  corrob(jiated  bv  the  repc,rtiif  th-  iniss-onaries,  who.  ait(.-:  Ihc  Con- 
quest, visited  Cholula,  and  investiuated  tiie  affair  with  the  aiti  of  tiie  priests 
and  several  old  survivors  who  h.id  v.iLuessed  it.  his  confirmetlin  its  substan- 
tial details  bv  the  other  contemp  larv  ai  r(,iuits.  The  excellent  bishop  of 
Cliiapa  wrote  with  the  a'-owed  object  ot  moving  the  svmpathies  of  his  country- 
men in  behalf  of  tiie  oppressed  natives;  a  generous  object,  certainlv,  but  one 
that  iias  too  <,ften  warped  his  jiidL'tnent  from  the  strict  litie  of  historic  im- 
partialitv.  He  was  not  an  eve-witness  of  the  transactions  in  New  .Spain,  and 
was  mucli  t<jo  vvib'iig  U>  leceive  whatever  would  make  tor  his  case,  and  to 
"over-red,"  if  I  mav  so  .>.iv,  his  arLOiment  witiisuch  details  of  1)h.  id  and 
•laughter,  as,  from  their  very  extravagance,  carry  their  own  refutation  with 
them. 
M'-xiro  15  '^'"'-   ^ 


1^2  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

quisition,  and  of  those  other  species  of  religious  persecutions, 
which  have  stained  the  annals,  at  some  time  or  otlier,  of  nearly 
every  nation  in  Christendom.'  Under  this  code  the  territory  of 
the  heathen,  wherever  found,  was  regarded  as  a  sort  of  religious 
waif,  which,  in  default  of  a  legal  proprietor,  was  claimed  and  taken 
possession  of  by  the  Holy  See,  and  as  such  was  freely  given 
away  by  the  head  of  the  Church,  to  any  temporal  pofiniate 
^hom  he  pleased,  that  would  assume  the  burden  -'^  conquest.' 
Thus,  Alexander  the  Sixth  generously  granted  a  large  portion  of 
the  Western  hemisphere  to  the  Spaniards,  and  of  the  Eastern 
to  the  Portuguese.  These  lofty  pretensions  of  the  successors 
of  the  humble  fisherman  of  Galilee,  far  from  being  nominal, 
were  acknowledged  and  appealed  to  as  conclusive  in  controver* 
sies  between  nations.* 

With  the  right  of  conquest,  thus  conferred,  came,  also,  the 
obligation,  on   which  it  may  be  said  to  have  been    founded,  to 

"  For  an  illustration  of  the  above  remark  the  reader  is  refered  to  the 
closing  pages  of  chap.  7,  Part  IT.,  of  the  "History  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella," 
where  I  have  taken  some  pains  to  show  how  deep  settled  were  these  convic- 
tions in  Spain,  at  the  period  with  which  we  are  now  occupied.  The  world 
had  gained  little  in  liberality  since  the  age  of  Dante,  who  could  coolly  dispose 
of  the  great  and  good  of  Antiquity  in  one  of  the  circles  of  Hell,  because — 
no  fault  of  theirs,  certainly — they  nad  come  into  the  world  too  soon.  The 
memorable  verses,  like  many  others  of  the  immortal  bard,  are  a  proof  at 
once  of  the  strength  and  weakness  of  the  human  understanding.  They  may 
be  cited  as  a  fair  exponent  of  the  popular  feeling  at  the  beginning  of  th* 
sixteenth  century. 

"  Ch'ei  non  peccaro,  e  s'egli  haTino  mercedi, 
Non  bastH,  perch'  e   non  ebher  battesm^t 
Ch'  k  porta  della  fede  che  tu  credi. 
E,  se  furon  dinanzi  al  Cristianesmo, 
Non  adorar  de'oitamente  Dio  ; 
E  di  qiies'J  cotai  son  io  medesmo. 
Per  tai  difetti,  e  non  per  altro  rio, 
Semo  perduti,  e  sol  di  tanto  offesi 
Che  sanza  speme  vivemo  in  disic* 

Infbrno,  canto  4. 

'  It  ifi  in  the  same  spirit  that  the  laws  of  Oleron,  the  maritime  code  of  so  high 
authority  in  the  Middle  Ages,  abandon  the  property  of  the  infidel,  in  common 
with  that  of  pirates,  as  fair  spoil  to  the  true  believer!  ''S'ilz  soni  pyrates, 
pilleurs,  ou  escumeurs  de  mer,  ou  Tnrcs,  et  autres  contraires  et  enneinis  de  noi 
tredicte  foy  catholicque,  chascuii  peut  prendre  sur  telles  manieres  de  gens, 
comme  sur  chiens,  et  pent  I'on  Us  disrobber  et  spolier  de  leurs  biens  sans  pugnition. 
C'cst  le  jugement."  Tugemens  d'Oleron,  Art.  45,  ap.  Collection  de  Lois 
Maritimes,  par  J,  M.  Pardessus,  (ed.  Paris,  1828,)  tom.  I.  p.  351. 

*  The  famous  bull  of  partition  became  the  basis  of  the  treaty  of  Tordesillas. 
by  which  the  Castilian  and  Portuguese  governments  determined  the  boundary 
line  of  their  respective  discoveries;  a  line  that  secured  the  vast  empire  of 
Brazil  to  the  latter,  which  fromprioritv  of  occupation  should  have  belonged  to 
their  rivals.  See  the  History  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabells,,  Part  I.,  chap.  iS; 
Part  II.,  chap.  9,— <he  closing  pages  of  each. 


REFLECTIONS  ON  TJIE  MASSACRE. 


343 


retrieve  the  nations  sitting  in  darkness  from  eternal  perdition. 
This  obligation  was  acknowledged  by  the  best  and  the  bravest, 
the  gownsman  in  his  closet,  the  missionary,  and  the  warrior  in 
tiie  crusade.  However  much  it  may  have  been  debased  by 
temporal  motives  and  mixed  up  with  worldly  considerations  of 
ambition  and  a\arice,  it  was  still  active  in  the  mind  of 
the  Christian  conqueror.  We  have  seen  how  far  paramount 
it  was  to  every  calculation  of  personal  interest  in  the  breast  of 
Cortds.  Tlie  concession  of  the  Pope,  then,  founded  on,  and  en- 
forcing, the  imperative  duty  of  conversic-n,^^  was  the  assumed 
basis — and,  in, the  apprehension  of  that  age,  a  sound  one — of  the 
right  of  conquest." 

This  right  could  not,  indeed,  be  construed  to  authorize  any 
unnecessary  act  of  violence  to  the  natives.     The  present  expedi- 

''  It  IS  the  condition,  uiiequivocallv  expressed  and  reiterated,  on  which 
Alexandtr  V'l.,  in  his  famous  bulls  of  Ma\'  3d  and  41)1,  149J,  convevs  to  l-"er- 
dinand  and  Isabella  full  and  absolute  right  over  all  such  territories  in  the 
Western  World,  as  may  not  have  been  previously  occupied  by  Christian 
princes.  See  tliese  jirecious  documents  itt  exteiiso,  apud  Ts'avarrete,  Coiiec- 
cion  de  los  Viages  y  Descubrimientos,  (Madrid,  1S25, )  toni.  II,  Nos,  17.  18. 

11  The  ground  on  which  Protestant  nations  assert  a  natural  right  to  the 
fruits  of  their  discoveries  in  the  New  World  is  very  different.  They  consider 
that  tlie  earth  was  intended  for  cultivation  ;  and  that  Providence  never  de- 
signed that  hordes  of  wandering  savages  should  hold  a  territory  far  more  tlian 
necessary  for  their  own  maintenance,  to  tlie  exclusion  of  civiiizctl  man.  Vet 
it  may  be  thought,  as  far  as  improvement  of  the  soil  is  concerned,  that  this 
arguiTient  woiiki  afford  us  but  an  indiifereni  tenure  for  much  of  ()ur  own  un- 
occupied and  uncultivated  tcrritorv.  far  cxccLciing  what  is  demanded  for  our 
present  or  pros])ective  sui;port.  As  lo  a  rigiit  founded  on  diftercnce  of  civil- 
ization, this  is  obviously  ;i  stiil  mote  uiv,  ci  tiiin  crittrion.  It  is  to  the  credit 
of  our  Puritan  ancestors,  that  \.\\vy  did  net  awiil  themselves  of  any  such  inter- 
pretation of  the  law  of  n;'turf,  aivJ  siiil  less  rely  on  the  powers  conceded  by 
King  James'  ])atent,  asse:;ing  riplits  as  ab-^-liitc.  nc;irlv,  ns  those  claimed  by 
the  Roman  See.  On  the  contrary,  they  established  their  title  to  the  soil  by 
fair  purchase  of  the  .Al)origines  ;  thus  forming  an  honorable  contrast  to  the 
policv  pursued  bv  too  man-.'  of  the  settlers  on  the  Ainericitn  crir.tir.ents  It 
should  be  rennri<ed,  that,  whatever  difference  of  ojiinion  may  l;ave  subsisted 
be'wec!)  the  Rnman  Catholic. — or  ratiurthe  Spanish  and  I'l 'rtt;i:;:>  sc  iiat'iins, 
— and  the  rest  ui  I'inrope.  in  rc'jard  t^.  the  true  fMunri-itinn  of  the'!"  t'tl<  '-  :n  a 
moral  view,  tnev  have  alwavs  been  content,  in  their  coniiovei  sks  with  one 
another,  to  re.-.;  them  exclusivelv  on  prieritv  of  f'iscovery.  }'(ir  a  brief  v';-w  of 
the  (ii-.  ii-sioi;,  sec  V  ittel.  (Droit  de-  (lens,  sec.  209.)  and  tsnii'.iliv  Kent. 
(Cninmeiu.iric-  (i:i  .'unf  riean  Law,  \(i!.  lil.  lee.  ;!.)  \\hcre  it  is  handled  with 
iiiucii  ;.ersp;(.u'iv  and  i  h)(,iie;iee.  '1  he  arLiimetu.  as  fouiuitxl  e;i  the  law  of 
nali.ii  -.  le.iv  ie  f.  litifi  in  ii.e  (cbee  d  (as-;-  of  Johnson  7\  Mcintosh. 
(  Vy'rieaton.  Ke>;erts  of  ( 'ases  in  the  Mipi  em'  (  Oiirt  of  the  I'mted  .'-tates,  vol. 
VIII.  p.  5.13,  et  3c<:|.|  If  i;  were  ne;  tie.-iiing  a  grave  disciis.sien  tmi  lightly, 
I  ^iionld  crave  leave  to  refer  th.e  re.eler  o.  t!n-  r^  iiowned  Diediieh  Knicler 
bocker's  ffistorv  >>i  New  'V'ork,  (lu.i.k  t.  1  liaji.  5.1  for  a  Inminnns  disfjuiseion 
on  this  knotty  que-stion.  At  all  e\ents,  he  will  tind  there  the  popular  art.{u- 
ments  subjected  to  the  test  of  ridicule  ;  a  test,  showing,  more  than  ans  ica- 
•oning  can,  how  much,  or  rather  how  little,  they  are  really  worth. 


344 


MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 


tion,  up  to  the  period  of  its  history  at  which  we  are  now  arrived, 

had  probably  been  stained  with  fewer  of  such  acts  than  almost 
any  similar  enterprise  of  the  Spanish  discoverers  in  the  New 
World.  Throughout  the  campaign,  Cortds  had  prohibited  all 
wanton  injuries  to  the  natives,  in  person  or  property,  and  had 
punished  the  perpetrators  of  them  with  exemplary  severity.  He 
had  been  faithful  to  his  friends,  and,  with  perhaps  a  single  excep- 
tion, not  unmerciful  to  his  foes.  Whether  from  policy  or  principle, 
it  should  be  recorded  to  his  credit;  though,  like  every  sagacious 
mind,  he  may  have  felt,  that  principle  and  policy  go  together. 

He  had  entered  Cholula  as  a  friend,  at  the  invitation  of  the 
Indian  emperor,  who  had  a  real,  if  not  avowed,  control  over  the 
state.  He  had  been  received  as  a  friend,  with  every  demon- 
stration of  good-will ;  when,  without  any  offence  of  his  own  or 
his  followers,  he  found  they  were  to  be  the  victims  of  an  insidious, 
plot, — that  they  were  standing  on  a  mine  which  might  be  sprung 
at  any  moment,  and  bury  them  all  in  its  ruins.  His  safety,  as 
he  truly  considered,  left  no  alternative  but  to  anticipate  the  blow 
of  his  enemies.  Yet  who  can  doubt  that  the  punishment  thus 
inflicted  was  excessive, — that  the  same  end  might  have  been 
attained  by  directing  the  blow  against  the  guilty  chiefs,  instead 
of  letting  it  fall  on  the  ignorant  rabble,  who  but  obeyed  the 
commands  of  their  masters  ?  But  when  was  it  ever  seen,  that 
fear,  armed  with  power,  was  scrupulous  in  the  exercise  of  it  ?  or 
that  the  passions  of  a  fierce  soldiery,  inflamed  by  conscious 
injuries,  could  be  regulated  in  the  moment  of  explosion  ? 

We  shall,  perhaps,  pronounce  more  impartially  on  the  conduct 
of  the  Conquerors,  if  we  compare  it  with  that  of  our  own  cou- 
temporaries  under  somewhat  similar  circumstances.  The  atroci- 
ties at  Cholula  were  not  so  bad  as  those  inflicted  on  the  descen- 
dants of  these  very  Spaniards,  in  the  late  war  of  the  Peninsula, 
by  the  most  polished  nations  of  our  time  ;  by  the  British  at 
Badajoz,  for  example,  —  at  Tarngona,  and  a  hundred  other 
places,  by  the  French.  The  wanton  butchery,  the  ruin  of  prop- 
erty, and,  above,  all,  those  outrages  worse  than  death,  from 
which  the  female  part  of  the  population  were  protected  at 
Cholula,  show  a  catalogue  of  enormities  quite  as  black  as  those 
imputed  to  the  Spaniards,  and  without  the  same  apology  for 
resentment, — with  no  apology,  indeed,  but  that  afforded  by  a 
brave  and  patriotic  resistance.  The  consideration  of  these 
events,  which,  from  their  familiarity,  make  little  impression  on 
our  senses,  should  render  us  more  lenient  in  our  judgments  of 
the  past,  showing,  as  they  do,  that  man  in  a  state  of  excitement, 
savage  or  civilized,  is  much  the  same  in  every  age.  It  may 
teach  us, — it  is  one  of  the  best  lessons  of  history, — that,  sine© 


REFLECTIONS  OAT  THE  AfASSACA'E. 


345 


such  are  the  inevitable  evils  of  war,  even  among  the  most  polish- 
ed people,  those  who  hold  the  destinies  of  nations  in  their  hands, 
whether  rulers  or  legislators,  should  submit  to  every  sacrihce, 
save  that  of  honor,  before  authorizing  an  appeal  to  arms.  The 
extreme  solicitude  to  avoid  these  calamities,  by  the  aid  of  peace- 
ful congresses  and  impartial  mediation,  is,  on  the  whole,  the 
strongest  evidence,  stronger  than  that  afforded  by  the  progress 
of  science  and  art,  of  our  boasted  advance  in  civilization. 

It  is  far  from  my  iri«^ention  to  vindicate  the  cruel  deeds  of  the 
old  Conquerors.  Let  them  lie  heavy  on  their  heads.  The)- 
were  an  iron  race,  who  periled  life  and  fortune  in  iiie  cause  ; 
and,  as  they  made  little  account  of  danger  and  suffering  tor 
themselves,  they  had  little  sympatiiy  to  spare  fur  their  unfortu- 
nate enemies.  But,  to  judge  them  fairly,  we  must  n<jt  do  it  by 
the  lights  of  our  own  age.  We  must  carry  ourselves  back  to 
theirs,  and  take  the  point  of  view  afforded  by  tlie  civiiization  of 
their  lime.  I'hus  only  can  we  arrive  at  impartial  criticism  in 
reviewing  the  generations  tiiat  are  past.  We  must  extend  to 
them  the  same  justice  which  we  shall  have  occasi(Mi  to  ask  from 
Posterit}",  when,  by  the  light  of  a  higher  civilization,  ir  surveys 
the  dark  or  doubtful  passages  in  our  own  history,  v.ivcii  hardly 
arrest  the  eye  of  the  contemporary. 

Ikit,  whatever  be  thought  of  lliis  transaction  in  a  mcral  view, 
as  a  stroke  of  policy,  it  was  unquesiionable.  The  nations  of 
Anah'.Kic  had  beheld,  with  atlmiration  mingled  witli  awe,  the 
little  band  ofCinis'.ian  waniurs  steadily  advancing  along  the 
plateau  in  face  of  every  obstacle,  overturning  army  after  army 
with  as  !u;:>.h  ease,  apparent^',  as  the  good  shii)  throws  off  the 
angry  billijws  from  her  bows,  (;r  rather  like  tiie  hu  a,  which, 
roiling  from  their  own  volcanoes,  liokls  on  its  course  unchecked 
by  obstacles,  rock,  tree,  or  building,  beaiiiig  them  along,  or 
crushing  and  consuming  them  in  its  her\-  pa:li.  The  jVLOwess  of 
the  S'paniards — "the  w^iite  gods,"  as  tliey  were  often  called'' — 
made  them  to  be  thought  invincible.  But  it  was  not  till  their 
arrival  at  Cholula,  that  the  n,iti\es  learned  how  terrible  was 
their  vengeance, — and  thev  tiembled  ! 

None  trembled  mure  tlian  tiie  i\ztec  emperor  on  hi>  throne 
among  the  mountains.  He  read  i:!  ti.e-e  ewivs  the  d:.,:k  char- 
acters   traced  by  the    finger   of   IX:  liirv."'      lie    felt    h'.-;    cmijire 

■'^  /,<vr  Dios''-:  lilatnos. — ( !.unar{.',(i,  lli>l.  els-  Tl.-iscahi,  MS. — Tmi  .nicnuda, 
Mr)nai"Lh.  Intl.,  lili.  4,  can.  .\<.i. 

'■^   .Sahat^uii,  lii-i.  Jc  Nucva  I'.-pafia,  MS.,  lil).   12,  cap.   II. 

In  ail  old  .\/!f  L  haratigu';.  iiiai'li  a  a  m  iih  r  of  form  on  liic  accession  of  a 
prince,  \vc  fw!'!  !  c  foilMwiii;;  rcinarkaliir  |ii  cdiction.  '' rcrhai)>  m. if  dis- 
mayed at  the  jiros]K-ctof  the  tcrrilii'- calamities  that  are  one  day  i-i  us  ei\N  htiin 


246  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

melting  away  like  a  morning  mist.  He  might  well  feel  sa 
Some  of  the  most  important  cities  in  the  neighborhood  of  Cho- 
lula,  intimidated  by  the  fate  of  that  capital,  now  sent  their  en- 
voys to  the  Castilian  camp,  tendering  their  allegiance,  and  pro- 
pitiating the  favor  of  the  strangers  by  rich  presents  of  gold  and 
slaves.'''  Montezuma,  alarmed  at  these  signs  of  defection,  took 
counsel  again  of  his  impotent  deities  ;  but,  although  the  altars 
smoked  with  fresh  hecatombs  of  human  victims,  he  obtained  no 
cheering  res])onse.  He  determined,  therefore,  to  send  another 
embassy  to  the  Spaniards,  disavowing  any  participation  in  the 
conspiracy  of  Cholula. 

Meanwhile  Corte's  was  passing  his  time  in  that  capital.  He 
thought  that  the  impression  produced  by  the  late  scenes,  and  by 
the  present  restoration  of  tranquillity,  offered  a  fair  opportunity 
for  the  good  work  of  conversion.  He  accordingly  urged  the  citi- 
zens to  embrace  the  Cross,  and  abandon  the  false  guardians  who 
had  abandoned  them  in  their  extremity.  But  the  traditions  of 
centuries  rested  on  the  Holy  City,  shedding  a  halo  of  glory 
around  it  as  "  the  sanctuary  of  the  gods,"  the  religious  capital  of 
Anahuac.  It  was  too  much  to  expect  that  the  people  would 
willingly  resign  this  preeminence,  and  descend  to  the  level  of  an 
ordinary  communit}'.  Siill  Corte's  might  have  pressed  the  mat- 
ter, however  unpalatable,  but  for  the  renewed  interposition  of 
the  wise  Olmedo,  who  persuaded  him  to  postpone  it  till  after 
the  reduction  of  the  whole  country.'"' 

The  Spanish  general,  however,  had  the  satisfaction  to  break 
open  the  cages  in  which  the  victims  for  sacrifice  were  confined, 
and  to  dismiss  the  trembling  inmates  to  liberty  and  life.  He 
also  seized  upon  the  great  teocalli,  and  devoted  that  portion  of 
the  building,  which,  being  of  stone,  had  escaped  the  fury  of  the 
flames,  to  the  purposes  of  a  Christian  church  ;  while  a  crucifix 
of  stone  and  lime,  of  gigantic  dimensions,  spreading  out  its  arms 
above  the  city,  proclaimed  that  the  population  below  was  under 
the  protection  of  the  Cross.  On  the  same  spot  now  stands  a 
temple  overshadowed  by  dark  cypresses  of  unknown  antiquity, 
and  dedicated  to  Our  Lady  de  los  Reinedios.  An  image  of  the 
Virgin  presides  over  it,  said  to  have  been  left  by  the  Conqueror 

us,  calamities  foreseen  and  foretold,  though  not  felt,  by  our  fathers  I 

When  the  destruction  and  desolation  of  the  empire  shall  come,  when  all  shall 
be  i)lunged  in  darkness,  when  the  hour  shall  arrive  in  which  thev  shall  make 
us  slaves  throughout  the  land,  and  we  shall  De  condenined  to  the  lowest  and 
most  degrading  offices!  "  (Ibid.,  lib.  6,  cap  16.)  This  random  shot  of  pro- 
phecy, which  I  have  rendered  literally,  shows  how  strong  and  settled  was  tho 
apprehension  of  some  impending  revolution. 

1^   Herrera,  ifiat.  (ieneral,  dec.  2,  lib.  7,  cap.  3. 

^  Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  83. 


E.Vl 'O  VS  FROM  MOATEZUMA.  24/? 

himself ;  ^®  and  an  Indian  ecclesiastic,  a  descendant  ot  the  an- 
cient CholuJans,  performs  the  peaceful  services  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  communion,  on  the  spot  where  his  ancestors  celebrated 
the  sanguinary  rites  of  the  mystic  Quetzalcoatl.'" 

During  the  occurrence  of  these  e\ents,  envoys  arrived  from 
Mexico.  They  were  charged,  as  usual,  with  a  rich  present  of 
plate  and  ornaments  of  gold,  among  others,  artihcial  birds  in 
imitation  of  turkeys,  with  plumes  of  the  same  precious  metal. 
To  these  were  added  fifteen  hundred  cotton  dresses  of  delicate 
fabric.  The  emperor  even  expressed  his  regret  at  the  catastro- 
phe of  Cholula,  vindicated  himself  from  any  share  in  the  con- 
spiracy, which  he  said  had  brought  deserved  retribution  on  the 
heads  of  its  authors,  and  explained  the  existence  of  an  Aztec 
force  in  the  neighborhood  by  the  necessity  of  repressing  some 
disorders  there. ^^ 

One  cannot  contemplate  this  pusillanimous  conduct  of  Monte- 
zuma without  mingled  feelings  of  pity  and  conteniiVi.  It  is  not 
easy  to  reconcile  his  assumed  innocence  of  the  plot  with  many 
circumstances  connected  with  it.  But  it  must  be  remembered 
here  and  always,  that  his  history  is  to  be  collected  solely  from 
Spanish  writers  and  such  of  the  natives  as  flourished  after  the 
Conquest,  when  the  country  had  become  a  colon)'  of  Spain. 
Not  an  Aztec  record  of  the  primiii\e  age  survives,  in  a  form 
capable  of  interpretation. -^'-^  It  is  the  hard  fate  of  this  unfortu- 
nate monarch,  to  be  wholly  indebted  for  his  portraiture  to  the 
pencil  of  his  enemies. 

More  tiian  a  fortnight  had  elapsed  since  the  entrance  of  the 
Spaniards  into  Cholula,  and  Cortes  now  resoUed  without  loss  of 

1'^  Veytia,  Hi.-^t.  Antig.,  torn.   I  (ap.   rj. 

^"   Humboldt,  Vues  des  (jDrdiUere.-,,  p.  32. 

1^  Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  Loreiizana,  [x  69. — Gotii«ra,  C'ronica,  caj).  63. 
— Oviedo,  Hist,  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  \'\h.  '})},,  cap.  5. — Ixtlilxochiil,  llisi.  Ciiich., 
MS.,  cap.  ,S4. 

^*  The  language  of  the  text  may  ajipear  .-omewhat  too  uu^  pialitied,  con>id- 
ering  that  three  Aztec  codices  exist  with  interpretations.  (.See  Ante,  \'ol.  I, 
pp.  103,  104. j  But  thev  contain  \eiyte\v  and  general  allusions  lo  Monie- 
zuma,  and  these  strained  through  conuncutaries  of  Spanisli  monks,  often- 
times manifestly  irreconcilable  wiih  the  genuine  Aztec  notions.  V.\t\\  such 
writers  as  Ixtlil.X'x;liitl  and  Camargo,  from  whom,  ennsidering  their  Indian 
de-'Cent,  we  might  exj)cct  more  indcnendencc.  seem  less  solicitous  to  show 
this,  than  tlieir  loyalty  to  the  new  faith  and  (i)untrv  of  their  adf)pt:on.  Per- 
haps the  most  honest  .Aztec  record  of  me  [)eriod  is  to  Ix;  (ibtaineii  fiom  the 
volumes,  the  twelfth  Ixiok,  particulai  1\ ,  of  father  Sahagun,  emiioih  mg  the 
traditions  of  the  natives  soon  after  the  ('onipK:si.  Thi.^  pwrtiun  of  his  great 
work  was  rewritten  by  its  author,  and  cop.jiiderable  (  hango-  vscic  made  in  ,;, 
at  a  later  period  of  iiis  life.  \'et  ;l  ma\'  be  doubted  )i  ihe  iiloinu-d  ver>ion 
reflects  the  traditions  of  the  roimtry  as  faithfully  as  tiie  origuuij,  wluch  i.->  .-.till 
in  manuscript,  and  which  1  have  lIkcII','  loihnved. 


248  MARCH  TO  MEXICO, 

time  to  resume  his  march  towards  the  capital.  His  rigorous 
reprisals  had  so  far  intimidated  the  Cholulans,  that  he  felt  as- 
sured he  should  no  longer  leave  an  active  enemy  in  his  rear,  to 
annoy  him  in  case  of  retreat.  He  had  the  satisfaction,  before 
his  departure,  to  heal  the  feud — in  outward  apptarance,  at  least 
— that  had  so  long  subsisted  between  the  Holy  Ciiy  and  Tlas- 
cala,  and  which,  under  the  revolution  which  so  soon  changed 
the  destinies  of  the  countr}-,  never  revived. 

It  was  with  some  disquietude  that  he  now  received  an  appli- 
cation from  his  Cempoallan  allies  to  be  allowed  to  withdraw 
from  the  expedition,  and  return  to  their  own  homes.  They  had 
incurred  too  deeply  the  resentment  of  the  Aztec  emperor,  by 
their  insults  to  his  collectors,  and  by  their  cooperation  with  the 
Spaniards,  to  care  to  trust  themselves  in  his  capital.  It  was  in 
vain  Cortes  endeavored  to  reassure  them,  by  promises  of  his 
protection.  Their  habitual  distrust  and  dread  of  "the  great 
Montezuma  "  were  not  to  be  overcome.  The  general  learned 
their  determination  with  regret,  for  they  had  been  of  infinite 
service  to  the  cause  by  their  stanch  fidelity  and  courage.  All 
this  made  it  the  more  difficult  for  him  to  resist  their  reasonable 
demand.  Liberally  recompensing  their  service.--,  therefore, 
from  the  rich  Vv'ardrobe  and  treasures  of  the  emperor,  he  took 
leave  of  his  faithful  followers,  before  his  own  departure  from 
Cholula.  He  availed  himself  of  their  return  to  send  letters  to 
Juan  de  Escalante,  his  lieutenant  at  Vera  Cruz,  acquainting  him 
with  the  successful  progress  of  the  expedition.  He  rejoined  on 
that  officer  to  strengthen  the  fortifications  of  the  place,  so  as  the 
better  to  resist  any  hostile  interference  fiom  Cuba, — an  event 
for  which  Cortes  was  ever  on  the  watch, — and  to  keep  down 
revolt  among  the  natives.  He  especially  commended  tlie  To- 
tonacs  to  his  protection,  as  allies  whose  fidelity  to  the  Spaniards 
exposed  them,  in  no  slight  degree,  to  the  vengeance  of  the 
Aztecs.-^ 

2'  Bernal  Diaz.  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  84.  85. — Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes, 
aj).  Loreiizana,  i).  67. — Gomara,  Crdnica,  cap.  60. — Oviedo,  Hist,  dc  \a& 
Ind.;  MS.,  lib.  33,  cap.  5. 


MARCH  RE£UME1X 


349 


CHAP TKR  VIII. 

March  resumed. — Ascent  ui  ihe  CrKEAr  Volcano. — Valley  of 
Mexico. — Impression     on    ihe     Spaniards. — Conduct    ov 

.MuNlEZUMA. ThEV  descend  INTO  THE  \'aLLEY. 


Every IHING  being  now  restored  to  quiet  in  Cliolula,  the 
allied  army  of  Spaniards  and  Tlascalans  set  forward  in  high 
spirits,  and  resumed  the  march  on  Mexico.  The  road  lay  through 
the  beautiiul  savannas  and  lu.xuriani  plantations  that  spread  out 
for  several  leagues  in  every  direction.  On  the  march,  they  were 
met  occasionally  by  embassies  frcjin  the  neighboring  places, 
anxious  to  claim  the  protection  of  the  white  men,  and  to  pro- 
pitiate them  by  gifts,  especially  of  gold,  for  which  their  appetite 
was  generally  known  throughout  the  country. 

Some  of  these  places  were  allies  of  the  'i'!a>calans,  and  all 
showed  much  discontent  with  the  oppressive  rule  of  Montezuma. 
The  natives  cautioned  the  Spaniards  against  putting  themselves 
in  his  power,  by  entering  his  capital  ,•  and  they  stated,  as  evi- 
dence <jf  ills  hostile  disposition,  that  he  had  caused  the  direct 
road  to  it  to  be  blocked  up,  that  the  strangers  might  be  compelled 
to  choose  another,  whicli,  from  ii^  narrow  passes  and  strong 
positions,  would  enable  him  to  take  them  at  great  disadvantage. 

The  information  was  not  lost  on  Cx)rte's,  who  kept  a  strict  eye 
on  the  movements  of  the  Mexican  envoys,  and  redoubled  iiis 
own  precauticms  against  surprise.'  C^heerful  and  acti\c.  he  was 
ever  where  his  ])resence  was  needed,  sometimes  in  the  \an.  at 
others  in  the  rear,  encouraging  llie  weak,  stimulating  the  sluggish, 
and  striving  to  kindle  in  the  breasts  of  otiiers  the  same  courage- 
ous spirit  which  glowed  in  liis  own.  At  night  he  never  omitted 
to  go  the  rounds,  to  see  that  every  man  was  at  his  post.  On 
one  (jccasion,  his  vigilance  had  \sell-nigh  i)n)ve(l  fatal  to  him. 
He    api^roached  so  near  a  seii'iine!,  that  the    man.  unaMc   to  dis- 

*  AndaiKurios,"  sir,-;  l)i:i/,  in  the  li'iriu'lv,  liMt  cxprcs'^ivc  Spanish  proverb^ 
•*  la  barba  sobre  el  Dinljro."      1 1  :■.;.  (i>-  la  (  utui'.i^t.i,  i  .ip.  Su. 


3SO 


MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 


tinguish  his  person   in  the  dark,  levelled  his  crossbow  at  him, 

■when  fortunately  an  exclamation  of  the  general,  who  gave  the 
watch-word  of  the  night,  arrested  a  movement,  which  might  else 
have  brought  the  campaign  to  a  close,  and  given  a  respite  for 
some  time  longer  to  the  empire  of  Montezuma. 

The  army  came  at  length  to  the  place  mentioned  by  the 
friendly  Indians,  where  the  road  forked,  and  one  arm  of  it  was 
found,  as  they  had  foretold,  obstructed  with  large  trunks  of  trees, 
and  huge  stones  which  had  been  strewn  across  it.  Cortds  m- 
quired  the  meaning  of  this  from  the  Mexican  ambassadors. 
They  said  it  was  done  by  the  emperor's  orders,  to  prevent  their 
taking  a  route  which,  after  some  distance,  they  would  find 
nearly  impracticable  for  the  cavalry.  They  acknowledged, 
however,  that  it  was  the  most  direct  road  ;  and  Cortds,  declaring 
that  this  was  enough  to  decide  him  in  favor  of  it,  as  the  Spaniards 
made  no  account  of  obstacles,  commanded  the  rubbish  to  be 
cleared  away.  Some  of  the  timber  might  still  be  seen  by  the 
road-side,  as  Bcrnal  Diaz  tells  us,  many  years  after.  The  event 
left  little  doubt  in  the  general's  mind  of  the  meditated  treachery 
of  the  Mexicans.  But  he  was  too  politic  to  betray  his  sus- 
picions.^ 

They  were  now  leaving  the  pleasant  champaign  country,  as 
the  road  wound  up  the  bold  sierra  which  separates  the  great 
plateaus  of  Mexico  and  Puebla.  The  air,  as  they  ascended, 
became  keen  and  piercing;  and  the  blasts,  sweeping  down  the 
frozen  sides  of  the  mountains,  made  the  soldiers  shiver  in  their 
thick  harness  of  cotton,  and  benumbed  the  limbs  of  both  men 
and  horses. 

They  were  passing  between  two  of  the  highest  mountains  on 
the  North  American  continent  ;  Popocatepetl,  •'  the  hill  that 
smokes,"  and  Iztaccihuatl,  or  '•  white  woman,"  3 — a  name  sug- 
gested, doubtless,  by  the  bright  robe  of  snow  spread  over  its 
broad  and  broken  surface.  A  puerile  superstition  of  the  Indians 
regarded  these  celebrated  mountains  as  gods,  and  Iztaccihuatl 
as  the  wife  of  her  more  formidable  neighbor,*  A  tradition  of  a 
higher  character  described  the  northern  volcano,  as  the  abode 
of  the  departed  spirits  of  wicked  rulers,  whose  fiery  agonies,  in 
their  prison-house,  caused  the  fearful  bellowings,  and  convulsions 

2  Ibid.,  ubi  supra. — Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana,  p.  70. — Torque- 
mada,  Monarch.  Ind.  lib  4,  cap.,  41. 

'  '•  Llamaban  al  volcan  Popocatepetl,  y  a  la  sierra  nevada  Iztaccihuatl,  que 
quiere  decir  la  sierra  que  humea,  y  la  blanca  mu2;er."  Camargo.  Hist,  de 
Tlascala,  MS. 

^  "La  Sierra  nevada  y  el  volcan  los  tenian  per  Dioses  ;  y  qi;e  ei  volcau 
la  Sierra  nevada  eran  marido  y  muger."     Ibid.,  MS. 


ASCEXT  OF  THE  GREAT  VOI.CAXO. 


35« 


in  times  of  eruption.  It  was  the  classic  fable  of  Antiquity.* 
These  superstitious  legends  had  invested  the  mountain  with  a 
rcysterious  horror,  that  made  the  natives  shrink  from  attempting 
its  ascent,  which,  indeed,  was  from  natural  causes  a  work  of 
incredible  difficulty. 

The  great  vokan,^  as  Popocatepetl  was  called,  rose  to  the 
enormous  height  of  17.852  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea;  more 
than  2000  feet  above  the  ''  monarch  of  mountains," — the  highest 
elevation  in  Europe.'  During  the  present  century,  it  has  rarelv 
given  evidence  of  its  volcanic  origin,  and  "  the  hill  that  smokes" 
has  almost  forfeited  its  claim  to  the  appellation.  J!ut  at  the 
time  of  the  Conquest  it  was  frequently  in  a  state  of  activity,  and 
raged  with  uncommon  fury  while  the  Spaniards  were  at  Tlascala  ; 
an  evil  omen  it  was  thought,  for  the  natives  of  Anahuac.  Its  head, 
gathered  into  a  regular  cone  by  the  deposit  of  successive  erup- 
tions, wore  the  usual  form  of  volcanic  mountains,  when  not  dis- 
turbed  by  the  falling  in  of  the  crater.  Soaring  towards  the 
skies,  with  its  silver  sheet  of  everlasting  snow,  it  was  seen  far 
and  wide  over  the  broad  plains  of  Mexico  and  Puebla.  the  first 
object  which  the  morning  sun  greeted  in  his  rising,  the  last 
where  his  evening  rays  were  seen  to  linger,  shedding  a  glorious 
effiulgence  over  its  head,  that  contrasted  strikinglv  with  the 
ruinous  waste  of  sand  and  lava  immediately  below,  and  the  deep 
fringe  of  funereal  pines  that  shrouded  its  base. 

The  mysterious  terrors  which  hung  over  the  spot,  and  the 
wild  love  of  adventure,  made  some  of  the  Spanish  cavaliers 
desirous  to  attempt  the  ascent,  which  the  natives  declared  no 
man  could  accomplish  and  live.  Cortes  encouraged  them  in  the 
enterprise,  willing  to  show  the  Indians  that  no  achievement  was 
above  the  dauntless  daring  of  his  followers.  One  of  his  captains, 
accordinglv,  Diego  Ordaz,  with  nine  Spaniards,  and  several 
Tlascalaiis,  encouraged  by  their  example,  undertook  the  ascent. 
It  was  attended  with  more  difficulty  than   had   been   anticipated 

'  Gomara,  Cr6nica,  cap,  62. 

"  .Etna  nigante'i=i  nunquam  tacitina  triumphos, 
Enceladi  bustuin,  qui  saiicia  tcrs-i  icvmctus 
Spiral  inexhau>tvim  flagranti  nrctore  siilpluir," 

C'l.AUDiAN,  Dc  Kapt.  Fros.,  lil>  i,  v.   tja 

*  The  old  Spaniards  callei-i  anv  loftv  mountain  by  tliat  name,  though  never 
having  given  signs  of  combusiion.  '['bus,  (!hinil)oraz()  was  called  a  volcan  dt 
nieff,  or  "  snow  volcano  ";  (lluniboldt,  Mssai  Politic|ue.  torn.  I.  p. 162;  and 
that  enterprising  traveller,  Stci)hens,  nolices-tbe  volcan  df  asnui,  "water  vol- 
cano." in  trie  neighborhood  (jf  Antigua  ( iuaiemala.  incidents  ot  'I'rave!  111 
Chiapas  Central    America,  an<l    Vucataii,  (Xcw  \'.irk,   184!,)  vol.   I  chn]).   \  \. 

'  Mont  Blanc,  according  to  M.  de  Sanssnrc,  is  i  S-bjo  fest  high.  I'<>r  the 
estimate  of  Po])o(.a!''pctl ,  see  ai.  elaborate  communication  in  the  Kmsta 
Mext<atta,  torn.  H.  .No.  4, 


352 


MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 


The  lower  region  was  clothed  with  a  dense  fijrest,  so  thicklj 
matted,  that  in  some  places  it  was  scarce])"  possible  to  penetrate 
it.  It  grew  thinner,  however,  as  they  advanced,  dwindling,  by 
degrees,  into  a  straggling,  stunted  vegetation,  till,  at  the  haight 
of  somewjiat  more  than  thirteen  thousand  feet,  it  faded  away 
altogether.  The  Indians  who  had  held  on  thus  far,  intimidated 
by  the  strange  subterraneous  sounds  of  the  volcano,  e\  en  then 
in  a  state  of  combustion,  now  left  them.  The  track  opened  on 
a  black  surface  of  glazed  volcanic  sand  and  of  lava,  the  broken 
fragments  of  which,  arrested  in  its  boiling  progress  in  a  thou- 
sand fantastic  forms,  opposed  continual  impediments  to  their 
advance.  Amidst  these,  one  huge  rock,  the  Pico  del  Frai'e,  a  coi> 
spicuous  object  from  below,  rose  to  the  perpendicular  height  of 
a  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  compelling  them  to  take  a  wide  circuit. 
They  soon  came  to  the  limits  of  perpetual  snow,  w-here  new 
difficulties  presented  themselves,  as  the  treacherous  ice  gave  an 
miperfect  footing,  and  a  false  step  might  precipitate  them  into 
the  frozen  chasms  that  yawned  around.  To  increase  their  dis 
tress,  respiration  in  these  aerial  regions  became  so  difificult,  that 
every  effort  was  attended  with  sharp  pains  in  the  head  and 
limbs.  Still  they  pressed  on,  till,  drawing  nearer  the  crater, 
such  volumes  of  smoke,  sparks,  and  cinders  were  belched  forth 
from  its  burning  entrails,  and  driven  down  the  sides  of  the 
mountain,  as  nearly  suffocated  and  blinded  them.  It  was  too 
much  e\en  for  their  hardy  frames  to  endure,  arid,  howevei 
reluctantly,  they  were  compelled  to  abandon  the  attempt  on  the 
eve  of  its  completion.  They  brought  back  some  huge  icicles, — 
a  curious  sight  in  these  tropical  regions, — as  a  trophy  of  their 
achievement,  which,  however  imperfect,  was  sufficient  to  strike 
the  minds  of  the  natives  with  wotider,  bv  showing  that  with  the 
Spaniards  the  most  appalling  and  mx'sterious  perils  wera  only  as 
pastimes.  The  undertaking  was  eminently  characteristic  of  the 
bold  spirit  of  tiie  cavalier  of  that  day,  who,  not  content  with  the 
dangers  that  lay  in  his  path,  seemed  to  court  tliem  from  the 
mere  Quixotic  love  of  adventu.re.  A  report  of  the  affair  was 
transmitted  to  the  Emperor  Charles  the  Fiftla,  ai:d  the  family  of 
Ordaz  was  allowed  to  commemorate  the  exploit  b\-  assuming  a 
burning  mountain  on  their  escutcheon.^ 

The  general  was  not   satisfied    with    the   result.     Two    years 

^  Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  a]).  Lorenzana.  ]).  70. — Oviedo,  Hist,  de  las  Ind., 
MS.,  lib.  33,  cnp.  5. — Ikrnal  Diaz.  Hist,  de  la  Conquista.  cap.  78. 

Til',  iatter  writer  ."^peaks  of  the  ascent  as  made  when  the  army  lav  at  Tlas- 
caln,  r.nd,  of  the-  artempt  as  ])crfectly  successful.  The  gisr.crf.'s  :e:-,-r.  written 
soon  nft'^r  the  event,  with  no  motive  for  misstatement,  is  the  better  authority. 
See,  also,  Ilc-rrera.  Hist.  Ck-nera!,  dec.  2,  lib.  6,  cap.  iS. — Rel.  d'un  gent* 
ap.  Kamusio,  ton;,  ill.  p.  jocS. — Gomara,  Cronica,  cap.  62, 


ASCExVr  OF  THE  GREAT  VOLCAXO. 


353 


after,  he  sent  up  another  party,  under  Francisco  Montano,  a 
cavalier  of  determined  resoluiion.  The  object  was  to  obtain 
sulphur  to  assist  in  making  gunpowder  for  the.  army.  The 
mountain  w^as  qui^t  at  this  time,  and  the  expedition  was  attended 
with  better  success.  The  Spaniards,  five  in  number,  climbed  to 
the  very  edge  of  the  crater,  which  presented  an  irregular  ellipse 
at  its  mouili,  more  than  a  league  in  circumference.  Its  depth 
might  be  from  eight  hundred  to  a  thousand  feet.  A  lurid  flame 
burned  gloomily  at  the  bottom,  sending  up  a  sulphureous  steam, 
which,  cooling  as  it  rose,  was  ]jrecipitated  on  the  sides  of  the 
cavity.  The  party  cast  lots,  and  it  fell  on  Montano  himself,  to 
descend  in  a  basket  into  this  hideous  abyss,  into  which  he  was 
lowered  by  his  companions  to  the  depth  of  four  hundred  feet ! 
This  was  repeated  several  times,  till  the  adventurous  cavalier 
had  collected  a  sufficient  cjuantityof  sulphur  for  the  wants  of  the 
army.  Tiiis  doughty  enterprise  excited  general  admiration  at 
the  time.  Cone's  concludes  his  report  of  ir,  to  the  emperor, 
with  the  judicious  reflection,  that  it  would  be  less  inconvenient, 
on  the  whole,  to  import  their  powder  from  Spain.^ 

But  it  is  time  to  return  from  our  digression,  which  may,  per- 
haps, be  excused,  as  illustrating,  in  a  remarkable  manner,  the 
chimerical  spirit  of  enterprise, — not  inferior  to  that  in  his  own 
romances  of  chivalry, — which  glowed  in  the  breast  of  the  Span- 
i.^ii  cavalier  in  the  sixteeiitii  century. 

llie  army  held  cm  its  march  through  the  intricate  gorges  of 
the  .-ierra.  The  route  w.ss  neai'ly  the  same  as  uiai  paisued  at 
the  present  day  by  the  courier  from  the  capiial  to  Puebia,  by  the 
was  of  Mecaineca.  li  was  not  tliat  usually  taken  by  ti'avellers 
from  \''f;ra  Cruz,  who  follow  the  more  ciioiiiious  road  round  the 
nonherH  base  of  Izlaccihuail,  as  less  fatiguing  ihan  the  other, 
though  inferior  in   picturesque    sceuer}'  and   romantic   points   of 

"  Kcl.  Ter.  y  Quarta  cle  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana.  jip.  318,  380. — Herrera, 
\\\si.  General,  dec.  3.  lib.  3.  cajj.  i.  —  Ovitdo,  Hist,  de  ia.-j  Ind. ,  MS.,  lib.  33, 
cap,  41. 

M.  (le  HutnbijMt  doubt.-,  ihe  fact  of  MjiUano's  descent  into  the  crater,  think- 
ing it  more  pr(jbal)le  thar  he  r)btained  tiie  sulphui"  through  some  Lateral  crev- 
ice in  the  mountain,  (fb.-ai  I'oliii'iue.  lotn  i.  p.  164.)  No  attempt — at  least, 
no  successful  one — iia-,  Ixen  made  to  gain  tiie  suirmiit  of  Popocatepetl,  since 
this  of  Montano,  till  tin;  Drc-^ent  centurv.  In  1S27,  it  wa,s  reachefl  in  two  ex- 
pc'Jilions.  and  again  in  1.S33  and  1.S34.  .-\  very  full  account  of  tlse  last,  con- 
taining rnaiiv  interesting  d'-taiis  aiul  scicrititic  observations,  \v,i^  written  by 
Federirr)  rje  Gerolt,  one  of  the  ])artv,  and  iiiihlished  in  trie  perl-.iicil  already 
referred  ti).  (Kc.-i-ta  Mexi^. ana,  torn.  I.  pp  4()i-4S2.)  Tl  e  pa:  ty  from  the 
tnpinast  p'.ik,  vshich  ( uniinaMded  a  ftdl  'wivitf  liie  less  elev.Ucd  1 /taccili  ui'l 
saw  no  vestage  of  a  cr;.;cr  in  tliat  n».  anJ.ilii,  contrary  to  the  opinion  u-iialij 
receiver], 

^''   Humljoidt,  I-',;->sai  Tolitique,  lorn.   1  \'    p.   17. 


J24  MARCH   TG  MEXICO. 

view.  The  icy  winds,  that  now  swept  down  the  sides  of  the 
mountains,  brought  with  them  a  tempest  of  arrowy  sleet  and 
snow,  from  which  the  Christians  suffered  even  more  than  the 
Tlascalans,  reared  from  infancy  among  the  wild  solitudes  of  their 
own  native  hills.  As  night  came  on,  their  sufferings  would  have 
been  intolerable,  but  they  luckily  found  a  shelter  in  the  commodi- 
ous stone  buildings  which  the  Mexican  government  had  placed 
at  stated  intervals  along  the  roads  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
traveller  and  their  own  couriers.  It  little  dreamed  it  was  pro- 
viding a  protection  for  its  enemies. 

The  troops,  refreshed  by  a  night's  rest,  succeeded,  early  on 
the  following  day,  in  gaining  the  crest  of  the  sierra  of  Ahualco, 
which  stretches  like  a  curtain  between  the  two  great  mountains 
on  the  north  and  south.  Their  progress  was  now  comparatively 
easy,  and  they  marched  forward  with  a  buoyant  step,  as  they 
felt  they  were  treading  the  soil  of  Montezuma. 

They  had  not  advanced  far,  when,  turning  an  angle  of  the 
sierra,  they  suddenly  came  on  a  view  which  more  than  compen- 
sated the  toils  of  the  preceding  day.  It  was  that  of  the  Valley 
of  Mexico,  or  Tenochtitlan,  as  more  commonly  called  by  the 
natives  ;  which,  with  its  picturesque  assemblage  of  water,  wood- 
land and  cultivated  plains,  its  sliining  cities  and  shadowy  hills, 
was  spread  out  like  some  gay  and  gorgeous  panorama  before 
them.  In  the  highly  rarefied  atmosphere  of  these  upper  regions, 
even  remote  objects  have  a  brilliancy  of  coloring  and  a  distinct- 
ness of  outline  which  seem  to  annihilate  distance."  Stretching 
far  away  at  their  feet,  were  seen  noble  forests  of  oak,  s}camotL', 
and  cedar,  and  beyond,  yellow  fields  of  maize  and  the  towering 
maguey,  intermingled  with  orchards  and  blooming  gardens;  for 
flowers,  in  such  demand  for  their  religious  festivals,  were  even 
more  abundant  in  this  populous  valley  than  in  other  parts  of 
Anahuac.  \w  the  centre  of  the  great  basin  were  beheld  the 
lakes,  occupying  then  a  much  larger  portion  of  its  surface  than 
at  present ;  their  borders  thickly  studded  with  towns  and  ham- 
lets, and,  in  the  midst, — like  some  Indian  empress  with  her 
coronal  of  pearls, — the  fair  city  of  Mexico,  with  her  white  towers 
and  pyramidal  temples,  reposing,  as  it  were,  on  the  bosom  of 
the  waters, — the  far-famed  "  Venice  of  the  Aztecs."  High  over 
all  rose  the  royal  hill  of  Chapoltepec,  the  residence  of  the 
Mexican  monarchs,  crowned  with  the  same  grove  of  gigantic 
cypresses,  which  at  this  day  fling  their  broad  shadows  over  the 
land.      In  the  distance  beyond  the  blue  waters  of  the   lake,  and 

1^  The  lake  of  Tezcuco,  on  which  stood  the  capital  of  Mexico,  is  2277 
metres,  nearly  7500  feet,  above  the  sea.  Humboldt,  Essai  Politique,  toiD 
II.  p.  45. 


/AfrAV-:s.s,\>.vs  ox  the  staxiards. 


355 


nearly  screened  by  iniervening  foliage,  was  seen  a  shining  speck, 
the  rival  capital  of  Tezcuco,  and,  siill  further  on,  the  dark  belt 
of  porphyry,  girdling  the  Vailey  around,  like  a  rich  setting  which 
Nature  had  devised  for  the  fairest  of  her  jewels. 

Such  was  the  beautiful  vision  which  broke  on  the  eyes  of  the 
Conquerors.  And  even  now,  when  so  sad  a  change  has  come 
over  the  scene  ;  when  the  stately  forests  have  been  ]aid  low, 
and  the  soil,  unsheltered  from  the  fierce  radiance  of  a  tropical 
sun,  is  in  many  places  abandoned  to  sterility  ;  when  the  waters 
have  retired,  leaving  a  broad  and  ghastly  margin  white  with  the 
incrustation  of  salts,  wliile  tiie  cities  and  hamlets  on  ilieir  borders 
have  mouldered  into  ruins  ; — even  now  that  desolation  broods 
over  the  landscape,  so  indestructible  are  the  line--  of  beauty 
wh;cli  Nature  has  traced  on  its  features,  that  no  traveller,  how- 
ever cold,  can  gaze  on  them  with  any  other  emotions  than  those 
of  astonish.ment  and  rapture.'- 

What,  then,  must  have  been  tlie  emotions  of  tiie  Spaniards, 
when,  after  working  their  toilsome  wa\-  into  tlie  upper  air,  the 
cloudy  tabernacle  parted  before  their  eyes,  and  tliey  beheld 
these  fair  scenes  in  all  their  pristine  magnitieuce  and  beauty  ! 
It  was  like  the  spectacle  which  greeted  the  eyes  of  Moses  fiom 
the  summit  of  Pisgnh,  and,  in  the  warm  glow  of  tlieir  feciiiigs, 
they  rrird  out,  "'  It  is  the  promised  land  !  "  ■"* 

Uut  tiio>e  feelings  of  admiration  were  soon  fallowed  by  others 
cf  a  \er;'  diffeicnt  complexion  ;  as  they  saw  ii;  all  i!;:s  the  evi- 
(-i^nces  of  a  civilization  and  power  far  superior  to  anytlang  they 
htid  }ct  entounteied.  The  more  timiJ,  disheartened  by  the 
;)ro>i-ect,  shrunk  from  a  contest  so  luUMitial,  and  d'.iiianded,  as 
they  had  done  on  sfmie  former  occasions,  to  be  led  back  again 
to  Vera  ('ruz.  Siich  was  not  the  effect  protlucrd  on  titc  sanguine 
sr.'irit  of  the  general.  His  a\'arice  was  sharpcn.ed  bv  ilie  disjilay 
of  the  dazzling  sjxjil  at  his  feet  ;  and,  if  Ite  felt  a  natural  anxiety 
at  the  fr)rmidable  odds,  liis  confidence  was  renewed,  as  he  gazed 
on  'he  lines  of  his  veterans,  whose  weatlnr-beaten  \"i>aiies  and 
bettered  armor  trdd  of  battles  won  and  difliculues  snrmourited, 
while  his  held  barbarians,  we.h  appetites,  whetted  hv  trie  view  of 
tlK'ir  enemies'  counirv.  ^ecaned  like  eagles  on  the  nieuntams, 
:e;uly  to  [)e'ince   u]  on  their  prew      Ev  argumerit,  eiitreat}',   and 

'-   It  is  uniitcfs.sar'.  \<:  refer  to  the  jiares  of  iiiodcrii  travci';er~.  who  however 
■-L'  ■■   i:::r.'  I'ifff  r  in  t:  -'e,  ti.ietil,  u\  feeliei',  all   <  niiciir  in  ti^c  iiii|J!  eb.->:i;;iS   [iro 
-:  :    •    ;  I'll   ii,-:ii  '-■-  t!  r   •',;!. I  "I   thi-  l)''aiitilnl   vriMev. 
'I"'ii '  .McnKida,  M'inareh       IikL,  1;1).  .\.  <"if).  41 

It  neiv  (all  le  t'.':  11  arl/;r's  nihi''  th'-  rnciiiiirahle  view  ^^\  tiic  fa'r  plains  of 
Tf,;'-'  w\\.'  h  I  f  pr,i:  1'  e  f ii-i>la\';f'  !•  -  '.'-  h':ii;_'rv  !>.irl!ariar,>.  afrti  a  siniilai  iiiareh 
thr-iii'jh  tliC  '.\;!e  in'-^-'s  nf  tlie  A!;-,  a-  rei^erlcd  liy  the  prii  ce  nt  ;l.^ll>rlC 
yc.  .  tLib.      !.:■.-,  li.^t.,  1,1;.  ::i,  (ui'.  3;;. 


■65^ 


AiARCH  TO  MEXICO. 


menace,  he  endeavored  to  restore  the  faltering  courage  of  the 
soldiers,  urging  them  not  to  think  of  retreat,  now  that  they  had 
reached  the  goal  for  which  they  had  panted,  and  the  golden 
gates  were  open  to  receive  them.  In  these  efforts,  he  was  well 
seconded  by  the  brave  cavaliers,  who  held  honor  as  dear  to 
them  as  fortune  ;  until  the  dullest  spirits  caught  somewhat  of  the 
enthusiasm  of  their  leaders,  and  the  general  had  the  satisfaction 
to  see  his  hesitating  columns,  with  their  usual  buoyant  step,  once 
more  on  their  march  down  the  slopes  of  the  sierra." 

With  every  step  of  their  progress,  the  woods  became  thinner  • 
patches  of  cultivated  land  more  frequent ;  and  hamlets  were 
seen  in  the  green  and  sheltered  nooks,  the  inhabitants  of  which, 
coming  out  to  meet  them,  gave  the  troops  a  kind  reception. 
Everywhere  they  heard  complaints  of  Montezuma,  especially  of 
the  unfeeling  manner  in  which  he  carried  off  their  3-oung  men 
to  recruit  his  armies,  and  their  maidens  for  his  harem.  These 
symptoms  of  discontent  were  noticed  with  satisfaction  by  Corte's. 
who  saw  that  Montezuma's  "mountain-throne,"  as  it  was  called, 
was,  indeed,  seated  on  a  volcano,  with  the  elements  of  combus- 
tion so  active  within,  that  it  seemed  as  if  any  hour  might  witness 
an  explosion.  He  encouraged  the  disaffected  natives  to  rely  on 
his  protection,  as  he  had  come  to  redress  their  wrongs.  He 
took  advantage,  moreover,  of  their  favorable  dispositions,  to 
scatter  among  them  such  gleams  of  spiritual  light  as  time  and 
the  preaching  of  father  Olmedo  could  afford. 

He  advanced  bv  easy  stages,  somewhat  retarded  by  the  crowd 
of  curious  inhabitants  gathered  on  the  highways  to  see  the  stran- 
gers, and  halting  at  every  spot  of  interest  or  importance.  On 
the  road,  he  was  met  by  another  embassy  from  the  capital.  It 
consisted  of  several  Aztec  lords,  freighted,  as  usual,  with  a 
rich  largess  of  gold,  and  robes  of  delicate  furs  and  feathers. 
The  message  of  the  emperor  was  couched  in  the  same  depreca- 
tory terms  as  before.  He  even  condescended  to  bribe  the  return 
of  the  Spaniards,  by  promising,  in  that  event,  four  loads  of  gold 
to  the  general,  and  one  to  each  of  the  captains,'^  with  a  yearly 
tribute  to  their  sovereign.  So  effectually  had  the  lofty  and  nat- 
urally courageous  spirit  of  the  barbarian  monarch  been  subdued 
by  the  influence  of  superstition  ! 

But  the  man,  whom  the  hostile  array  of  armies  could  not 
daunt,  was    not  to  be  turned  from  his    purpose   by   a  woman's 

^"^  Torquemada,  Monarch.  Itid.,  ubi  supra. — Herrera,  Hist.  General,  dec- 
2,  lil).  7-  cap.  3 — Gornara,  Cronica.  caj).  64 — Oviedo.  Hist,  de  las  Irul., 
MS.,  lib.  33.  cap.  5. 

'^  A  load  for  a  Mexican  tamam  was  about  fifty  pounds,  or  eight  huiKircd 
ounces.      Clavigero.  Stor.  del.  Messico,  toai.  III.  p.  60,  iiota. 


COXDUCT  OF  ^rOXTJ^:ZUMA. 


35r 


prriyers.  He  received  the  embassy  with  his  usual  courtesy,  de- 
claring, as  before,  that  he  could  not  answer  it  to  his  own  sov- 
ereign, if  he  were  now  to  return  without  visiting  the  emperor  in 
his  capital.  It  w^ould  be  much  easier  to  arrange  matters  by  a 
personal  mterview  than  by  distant  negotiation.  The  Spaniards 
came  in  the  spirit  of  peace.  Montezuma  would  so  tind  it,  but, 
should  their  presence  prove  burdensome  tc>  him,  it  would  be 
easy  for  them  to  relieve  him  of  it.''' 

The  Aztec  monarch,  meanwhile,  was  a  prevto  the  most  dismal 
apprehensions.  It  was  intended  that  the  embassv  al>ove  noticed 
should  reacli  the  Spaniards  before  they  crossed  tlie  mountains. 
When  he  learned  that  this  was  accomj)!ished.  and  that  the  dread 
strangers  were'  on  their  march  across  the  Vailev.  the  very  thresh- 
old of  his  capital,  the  last  spark  of  hripe  died  away  in  his  bosom. 
Like  one  who  suddenly  finds  h.im--elf  on  the  brink  of  some  dark 
and  yawning  gulf,  he  was  too  mu(-li  bewildered  to  be  able  to 
rally  his  thoughts,  or  e\-en  to  comprehend  his  situation.  He 
was  the  vie  tim  of  an  absolute  cK'^'inv  :  a2;ain-t  v/liich  no  foresijiht 
or  :  recTLitioiis  could  have  a\'ailed.  It  was  ;.s  if  the  strange 
beings,  who  had  thus  invaded  his  sliores.  had  drf'pped  Irom 
some  distant  planet,  so  different  were  thicv  Irom  all  he  had  e\'er 
seen,  in  appearance  and  manners  :  so  superior — though,  a  mere 
handful,  in  numbers  -to  the  banded  nation*  of  Anahuac  in 
sTMigih  and  scienre.  and  all  the  fearful  accom])aiiiments  of 
war  !  Tliey  v;ere  now  in  tlie  \';riie\-.  'I'hr  huge  mountain 
screen,  which  nature  had  -^o  ki!idl\'  drawn  around  it,  iV.r  its  de- 
fence, had  been  o\-erl<;Mped.  The  g(/iden  \-:-ions  of  -.ecnrity  and 
repose,  in  which  lie  had  so  long  indulged.  ;h';  lonilv  swav  de- 
-rendrd  frorn  his  ancestors,  his  l)r(>ad  imi'cr!al  o^'main.  were 
all  to  ]3a-.s  a^^av.  It  seemed  like  -^ome  terrible  dream, — irom 
wirich  he  was  now,  alas  !  to  awake  to  a  still  more  terrible  re- 
ality. 

In  a  paroxysm  of  despair,  lie  shut  himself  up  in  his  pa'ace, 
ref'i'^ed  frjod.  and  sought  relief  in  prayer  and  in  sarrih(X\  ISut 
the  r.raoles  were  rhimb.  lie  tlu-n  ado])ied  the  more  sensible 
e.\'ix:diciit  of  calling  a  council  of  his  principal  ami  ol  Ic.t  n^'hles. 
Here  was  tlie  same  (ku  i-^ion  o!  (.pinion  wliich  ii.id  [v'.re  pre- 
vailed. Caca'iia,  iIm:  voung  king  oi  ■|\/cuco.  hi<  neohc'v,  coun- 
selled him  to  receive  'he  SjciMiards  oou'teoiislw  a-  :inioa-sadors, 
so  ♦\!ed  bv  thcmseh'es.  of  a  forrije  j;r'n'c.  ( "iii'laiiea.  Mon- 
tezuma's  more  warlike   biTckn  i.  urgi-d  line  lo   inii^tci    his  forces 

Ancva    lc-l,;ir!:i.    M'^..   lib.    \:.  r.ip.    I,'.— !-^'-l.    Si  IJ.   (Ic 
,  \).  J--,.  —  ll'jiicci,    Mist.  (  k'licr.il,  (ice.  J,  lib.  ;-.  c.(|i,  3. 
:i  '  'iiii'jiiista,  cap-  .S7. 
C)    - -(j\-'^vi\i\   llibtdc  las   IikI.   MS.,  lib.  33,  .  an.  5. 


'■■   ^:i' 

1,.,,. ,,,, 

.    lb 

-•.    rl,- 

(V 

)ri'-'^. 

;(n.    1 

.i'V\ 

i/.aiia. 

v.* 

■  rcii;. 

1  >'...', 
I,  <  re 

1  b-t 

■  .1  c 

^5  8  MARCH  TO  MEXrCC. 

on  the  instant,  and  drive  back  the  invaders  from  his  capital,  <w 

die  in  its  defence.  But  the  monarch  found  it  difficult  to  rally 
his  spirits  for  this  final  struggle.  With  downcast  eye  and  de- 
jected mien,  he  exclaimed,  '"  Of  what  avail  is  resistance,  when 
the  gods  have  declared  themselves  against  us  !  ^'  Yet  I  mourn 
most  for  the  old  and  infirm,  the  women  and  children,  too  feeble 
to  fight  or  to  fly.  For  myself  and  the  brave  men  around  me,  vre 
must  bare  our  breasts  to  the  storm,  and  meet  it  as  we  may  !  '' 
Such  are  the  sorrowful  and  sympathetic  tones  in  which  the  Aztec 
emperor  is  said  to  have  uttered  the  bitterness  of  his  grief.  He 
would  have  acted  a  more  glorious  part,  had  he  put  his  capital  in 
a  posture  of  defence,  and  prepared,  like  the  last  of  the  Palaeo* 
logi,  to  bury  himself  under  its  ruins." 

He  straightway  prepared  to  send  a  list  embassy  to  the  Span- 
iards, with  his  nephew,  the  lord  of  Tezcuco,  at  his  head,  to  wel- 
come them  to  Mexico. 

The  Christian  army,  meanwhile,  had  advanced  as  far  as 
Amaquemecan,  a  well  built  town  of  several  thousand  inhabitants. 
They  were  kindly  received  by  the  cacique,  lodged  in  large,  com- 
modious, stone  buildings,  and  at  their  departure  presented,  among 
other  things,  with  gold  to  the  amount  of  three  thousand  castel- 
lanos}^  Having  halted  there  a  couple  of  days,  they  descended 
among  flourishing  plantations  of  maize,  and  of  maguey,  the  lat- 
ter of  which  might  be  called  the  Aztec  vineyards,  towards  the 
lake  of  Chalco.  Their  first  resting-place  was  Ajotzinco,  a  town 
of  considerable  size,  with  a  great  part  of  it  then  standing  on 
piles  in  the  water.  It  was  the  first  specimen  which  the  S}:)an- 
iards  had  seen  of  this  maritime  architecture.  The  canals  which 
intersected  the  city,  instead  of  streets,  presented  an  animated 
scene,  from  the  number  of  barks  which  glided  up  and  down 
freighted  with  provisions  and  other  articles  for  the  inhabitants. 
The  Spaniards  were  particularly  struck  with  the  style  and  com- 
modious structure  of  the  houses,  built  chiefly  of  stone,  and  with 
the  general  aspect  of  wealth  and  even  elegance  which  prevailed 
there. 

Though  received  with  the  greatest  show  of  hospitality,  Cortes 

1"  This  was  not  the  sentiment  of  the  Roman  hero. 

"  Victrix  causa  Dii5  piacuit,  sed  victa  Cato:i!  I" 

Ia'c.vn',  lib.   1,  V.  12'?. 

^  Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Xae\a  Rspaiia,  M.S.,  lib.  12,  cap.  13. — TorqueiMada 
Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  4,  cap.  44.— Gomara,  Cronica,  cap.  63. 

^'  "  El  scfior  de  esta  provincia  y  pueblo  me  dio  hasta  quarenta  esclavas,  y 
tres  mil  castellanos;  y  dos  dias  que  alii  estuve  nos  proveyo  muy  cumplid- 
aniCTite  dc  todn  lo  nccessario  para  nuestra  comida.''  Rel.  .Seg.  de  Corte-;.  ap* 
Lorenrai'.a,  p   74. 


THEY  DFSCEA'D  INTO   THE   VALLEY. 


359 


iound  some  occasion  for  distrust  in  the  eagerness  manifested  by 
the  people  to  see  and  approach  the  Spaniards.'^^  Not  content 
with  gazing  at  them  in  the  roads,  some  even  made  their  way 
stealthily  into  their  quarters,  and  fifteen  or  twenty  unhappy 
Indians  were  shot  down  by  the  sentinels  as  spies.  Yet  there 
appears,  as  well  as  we  can  judge,  at  this  distance  of  time,  to 
have  been  no  real  ground  for  such  suspicion.  The  undisguised 
jealousy  of  the  C'ourt,  and  the  cautions  he  had  received  from 
his  allies,  while  they  \ery  properly  put  the  general  on  his  guard, 
seem  to  have  given  an  unnatural  acuteness,  at  least  in  the  pres- 
ent instance,  to  his  perceptions  of  danger.^ 

Early  on  the  following  morning,  as  the  army  was  preparing  to 
lea\'e  the  place,  a  courier  came,  requesting  the  general  to  post- 
pone Iiis  departure  till  after  the  arrival  of  the  king  of  Tezcuco, 
who  was  advancing  to  meet  him.  It  was  not  long  before  he  ap- 
peared, borne  in  a  palanquin  or  litter,  richly  decorated  with 
plates  of  gold  and  precious  stoties,  having  pillars  curiously 
wrought,  supporting  a  canopy  of  green  plumes,  a  favorite  color 
with  the  Aztec  princes.  He  was  accompanied  by  a  numerous 
suite  of  nobles  and  inferior  attendants.  As  he  came  into  the 
presence  of  Corte's,  the  lord  of  Tezcuco  descended  from  his 
palanquin,  and  the  obsequious  officers  swept  the  ground  before 
him  as  he  advanced.  He  appeared  to  be  a  yourig  man  of  about 
twenty-tive  years  of  age,  with  a  comely  presence,  erect  and 
stately  in  his  deportment.  He  made  the  Mexican  salutation 
usually  addressed  to  persons  of  high  rank,  touching  the  earth 
with  his  right  hand,  and  raising  it  to  his  head.  Cortds  embraced 
him  as  he  rose,  when  the  young  ]orince  informed  him  that  he 
came  as  the  representative  of  Montezuma,  to  bid  the  S[)aniards 
welcome  to  his  capital.  He  then  presented  the  general  with 
three  pearls  of  uncommon  size  and  lustre,  (.'ortes,  in  return, 
threw  over  C'acama's  neck  a  chain  of  rut  glass,  which,  where 
glass  was  as  rare  a.^  diamonds,  might  be  admitted  to  have  a 
value  as  real  as  the  latter.  After  this  interchange  of  courtesies, 
and  the   most  friendly  and   respectful   assurances  on  the  part  of 

^'  "  De  todas  partes  era  iiiMiiita  la  ^ento  que  de  un  caho  (•  de  ntro  concur- 
rian  a  mirar  a  Ids  I'"spanoies,  i'  iiiai  a'.ill(:l):uisc  iiiiiclui  dr  Ids  \ci.  'I'enian 
grruifie  espario  e  ateiici  oiieii  niirar  Ids  cahallos;  deci.m,  '  iv-tos  son  'Iculcs,' 
que  (jiiierc  decir    I)cmoni'i>."     (  »vicdn,   lli,>t.  de    las    Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  3;,  cap. 

45- 

-'  f'ortes  tells  the  affair  oollv  eimM^di  tn  the  finpcror.      "  I'.  a(iuella   iiorhe 

tuve  tal  guarda,  que  assi  d'-  i->pias.  que  veniau  por  el  at^ua  en  i  anoas,  coino 
de  otras,  que  por  la  sierra  ahajahaii,  a  \(r  >:  ha1)ia  aparejo  paia  exccutar  su 
voluntad,  amanecieron  <  a~.i  fjuince,  o  \i-inte,  (jue  las  nueslr.is  la->  liahian 
tornado,  y  muerto.  Vn\  inanera  rjue  pot  :i>  holvieron  a  dar  sn  respiirsta  d« 
•I  aviso  que  venian  ;i  toinar. "     Kel.  Se^^^  de  ("'irtes,  ap.  T.orcnzana,  [).  74. 


300 


MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 


C'ort^s,  the  Indian  prince  withdrew,  leaving  the  Spaniards 
sirongly  impressed  with  the  superiority  of  his  state  and  bearing 
ever  anything  they  had  hitherto  seen  in  the  country, 22 

Resuming  its  march,  the  army  kept  along  the  southern 
borders  of  the  lake  of  Chalco,  overshadowed,  at  that  time,  by 
noble  woods,  and  by  orchards  glowing  with  autumnal  fruits  of 
unknown  names,  but  rich  and  tempting  hues.  More  frequently 
it  passed  through  cultivated  fields  wavnig  with  ihe  yellow  har- 
vest, and  irrigated  by  canals  introduced  from  the  neighboring 
lake  ;  the  whole  showing  a  careful  and  economical  husbandry, 
essential  to  the  maintenance  of  a  crowded  population. 

Leaving  the  main  land,  the  Spaniards  came  on  the  great  dike 
or  causeway,  which  stretches  some  four  or  five  miles  in  length, 
rnd  divides  lake  Chalco  from  Xochicalco  on  the  west.  It  was  a 
lance  \\\  breadth  in  the  narrowest  part,  and  in  some  places  wide 
enough  for  eight  horsemen  to  ride  abreast.  It  was  a  solid 
structure  of  stone  and  lime,  running  directly  through  the  lake, 
and  struck  the  Spaniards  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable  works 
which  they  had  seen  in  the  country. 

As  they  passed  along,  they  beheld  the  gay  spectacle  of  multi- 
tudes of  Indians  darting  up  and  down  in  their  light  pirogues, 
eager  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  strangers,  or  bearing  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  country  to  the  neighborir.g  cities.  They  were 
amazed,  also,  by  the  sight  of  the  chinafnpas,  or  floating  gardens, 
— those  wandering  islands  of  verdure,  to  which  we  shall  have 
occasion  to  return  hereafter, — teeming  with  flowers  and  vege- 
tables, and  moving  like  rafts  over  the  water.  All  around  the 
margin  and  occasionally  far  in  the  lake,  they  beheld  little  towns 
and  villages,  which,  half  concealed  by  the  foliage,  and  gathered 
in  white  clusters  round  the  shore,  looked  in  the  distance  like 
companies  of  wild  swans  riding  quietly  on  the  waves,  A  scene 
so  new  and  wonderful  filled  their  rude  hearts  with  amazement. 
It  seemed  like  enchantment ;  and  they  could  find  nothing  to 
compare  it  with,  but  the  magical  pictures  in  the  '•  Amadis  de 
Gaula." '^     Few  pictures,  indeed,  in  that  or  any  other  L-gend  of 

^^  Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana,  p.  75. — Gomara,  Cronica,  cap.  64. 
— Txtlilxochitl.  Mist.  Chich..  MS.,  cap.  85.— Oviedo,  Hist,  de  la-  Ind.,  MS. 
rb    33,  cap.  5. 

■  hlego  COM  el  mayor  fausto,  y  grarideza  <jue  ningun  senor  dc  ios  Mexi- 

'.\.  .  ,^  auianius    visto   traei, y   ',0    luuimos    pur   inuy  grar;    cosa:    y 

jvaticamos  entre  nosotros,  ({ue  quando  aquel  Caciciue  traia  tanto  triunfo,  f|U« 
har'a  el  gran  Monte9uina  ?  ■'     Bernal  Diaz.  Hist,  de  la  Concjuista,  cap.  87. 

jn  '<  >Jqs  quedamos  admirados,"  exclaims  Diaz,  with  simple  wonder,  "y 
deziamos  que  parecia  d  las  casas  de  encantamento,  que  cuentan  en  el  libro 
de  Amadis!''  (Ibid.,  loc.  cit. )  An  edition  of  this  celebrated  lomance  in 
us  Castilian   flres^   had   appeared    before  this   time,  as  the  prologue    to  tb* 


THEY  DESCEND  INTO  THE  VALLEY.  361 

chivalry,  could  surpass  the  realities  of  their  own  experience. 
The  life  of  the  adventurer  in  the  New  World  was  romance  put 
into  action.  What  wonder,  then,  if  the  Spaniard  of  that  day, 
feeding  his  imagination  with  dreams  of  enchantment  at  home, 
and  with  r.s  realities  abroad,  should  have  displayed  a  Quixotic 
enthusiasm, — a  romantic  exultation  of  character,  not  to  be  com- 
prehended by  the  colder  spirits  of  other  lands  ! 

Midway  across  the  lake  the  army  halted  at  the  town  of  Cuit- 
lahuac,  a  place  of  moderate  size,  but  distinguished  by  the 
beauty  of  the  buildings, — the  most  beautiful,  according  to  Corte's, 
that  he  had  yet  seen  in  the  country.'-^  After  taking  some  re- 
freshment at  this  place,  they  continued  their  march  along  the 
dike,  riiough  broader  in  this  northern  section,  the  troops 
found  themselves  much  embarrassed  by  the  throng  of  Indians, 
who,  not  content  with  gazing  on  them  from  the  boats,  climbed 
up  the  causeway,  and  lined  the  sides  of  the  road.  The  general, 
afraid  that  his  ranks  might  be  disordered,  and  that  too  great 
familiarity  might  diminish  a  salutary  awe  in  the  natives,  was 
obliged  to  resort  not  merely  to  command,  but  menace,  to  clear  a 
passage.  He  now  found,  as  he  advanced,  a  considerable  change 
in  the  feelings  shown  towards  the  government.  He  heard  only 
of  the  pomp  and  magnificence,  nothing  of  the  oppressions,  of 
Montezuma.  Contrary  to  the  usual  fact,  it  seemed  that  the  re- 
spect for  the  court  was  greatest  in  its  immediate  neighborhood. 

From  the  causeway,  the  army  descended  on  that  narrow  point 
of  land  which  divides  the  waters  of  the  Chalco  from  the  Tezcu- 
can  lake,  but  which  in  those  days  was  overflowed  for  many  a  mile 
now  laid  barc.'^  Traversing  this  peninsula,  they  entered  the 
royal  residence  of  Iztapalapan,  a  place  containing  twelve  or 
fifteen  thousand  houses,  according  to  Corte's.'"*'     It  was  governed 

second  editi'iii  of  1512  speaks  of  a  former  one  in  the  reign  of  the  "  Catholic 
.Sovereigns."  See  Cervantes,  Don  Quixote,  ed.  Pellicer,  (Madrid,  I797,) 
torn.  I.,  Oiscurso  Prelim. 

■'*  "  Una  ciudad,  la  mas  hermosa,  aun(|ue  pequena,  que  hasta  eiuonces 
habiamos  visto,  assi  de  muy  bien  obradas  Casas,  y  Torres,  como  de  la  buena 
orden,  que  en  el  fundamento  de  ella  habia  por  ser  armada  toda  sobrc 
Agua."  (Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana,  p.  76.)  The  Spaniards  gave 
this  aquatic  city  the  name  of  Venezuela,  or  little  Venice.  Toribio,  Hist,  de 
los  Indios,  MS.,  Parte  2,  cap.  4. 

■^  M  de  Humboldt  has  dented  the  conjechtral  limits  of  the  ancient  lake 
in  his  admirable  chart  of  the  Mexican  Valley.  (Atlas  Ceograi)hique  et 
Physique  de  la  Nouvelle  Kspagne,  (Paris,  iSii,)  carte  3.)  Nuiwithstanding 
kis  great  care,  it  is  not  easy  alwa\.s  to  reconcile  his  topography  with  the 
itineraries  of  the  Conriuerors,  so  much  has  the  face  of  the  country  been 
changed  by  natural  and  artificial  causes.  It  is  still  less  possible  to  recom  ilc 
their  narratives  with  the  maps  of  Clavigero,  Lopez,  Robertson,  and  oti;--i:,, 
defying  erjually  tO|)(jgraphv  and  history. 

^  Several  writers  notice  a  visit  of  the  Spaniards  to  Te^cuco  on  the  way  to 


362  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

by  Cuitlahua,  the  emperor's  brother,  who,  to  do  greater  honor  to 
the  general,  had  invited  the  lords  of  some  neighboring  cities, 
of  the  royal  house  of  Mexico,  like  himself,  to  be  present  at  the 
inter\new.  This  was  conducted  with  much  ceremony,  and, 
after  the  usual  present  of  gold  and  delicate  stuffs,*^  a  collation 
was  served  to  the  Spaniards  in  one  of  the  great  halls  of  the 
palace.  The  excellence  of  the  architecture  here,  also,  excited 
the  admiration  of  the  general,  who  does  not  hesitate,  m  the 
glow  of  his  enthusiasm,  to  pronounce  some  of  the  buildings 
equal  to  the  best  in  Spain.^  They  were  of  stone,  and  the 
spacious  apartments  had  roofs  of  odorous  cedar-wood,  while  the 
walls  were  tapestried  with  fine  cottons  stained  with  brilliant 
colors. 

But  the  pride  of  Iztapalapan,  on  which  its  lord  had  freely 
lavished  his  care  and  his  revenues,  was  its  celebrated  gardens. 
They  covered  an  immense  tract  of  land  ;  were  laid  out  in  reg- 
ular squares,  and  the  paths  inierseciing  ihem  were  bordered 
with  trellises,  supporting  creepers  and  aromatic  shrubs  that 
loaded  the  air  with  their  perfumes.  The  gardens  were  stocked 
with  fruit-trees,  imported  from  distant  places,  and  with  the  gaudy 
family  of  flowers  which  belong  to  the  Mexican  Flora,  scientific- 
ally arranged,  and  growing  luxuriant  in  the  equable  temperature 
of  the  table-land.  The  natural  dryness  of  the  atmosphere  was 
counteracted  by  means  of  aqueducts  and  canals  tliai  carried 
water  into  all  parts  of  the  grounds. 

In  one  quarter  was  an  aviary,  filled  with  numerous  kinds  of 
birds,  remarkable  in  this  region  boih  for  brilliancy  of  plumage 
and  of  song.  The  gardens  were  intersected  by  a  canal  communi- 
eating  with  the  lake  of  Tezcuco,  and  of  sufficient  size  for  barges 
to  enter  from  the  latter.  But  the  most  elaborate  piece  of  work 
was  a  huge  reservoir  of  stone,  filled  to  a  considerable  height 
with  water  well  supplied  with  different  sorts  of  fish.  This  basin 
was  sixteen  hundred  paces  in  circumference,  acd  was  surrounded 
by  a  walk,  made  also  of  stone,  wide  enough  for  four  persons 

the  capital.  (Torquemada,  Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  4  cap.  42. — Solis,  Conquisia, 
lib.  3,  cap.  9. — Herrera.  Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  7,  cap.  4. — Clavigero, 
Stor.  del  Messico,  torn.  iil.  p.  74.)  This  improbable  episode — which  it  may 
be  remarked,  has  led  these  authors  into  some  geographical  perplexities,  not  to 
say  blunders — is  altogether  too  remarkable  to  have  been  passed  over  in 
silence,  in  the  minute  relation  of  BernaJ  Diaz,  and  that  of  Cortes  neither  of 
whom  alludes  to  it. 

■^"  "  E  me  dieron,"  says  Cortes,  "  hasta  tres,  6  quarto  mil  Castellanos,  jr 
alguTias  Esclavas,  y  Ropa,  e  me  hicieror.  niuy  buen  acogimiento  "  Re!. 
Se^'.,  ap.  Lorenzana,  p.  76. 

-'  ''  Tiune  el  .'-"cfior  de  ella  unas  Casas  nuf-.a-,  (|i:e  aun  no  estan  acabadas, 
que  son  tan  Luunas  c<jmo  las  mejores  de  '.^.spana,  digo  de  grandes  y  bie» 
Ubradas."     Ibid.,  p.  77. 


THEY  DESCEND  IXTO   THE   VALLEY. 


363 


to  go  abreast.  The  sides  were  curiously  sculptured,  and  a  flight 
of  steps  led  to  the  water  below,  which  fed  the  aqueducts  above 
noticed,  or,  collected  into  fountains,  diffused  a  perpetual  moist- 
ure. 

Such  are  the  accounts  transmitted  of  these  celebrated  gar- 
dens, at  a  period  when  similar  horticultural  establishments  were 
unknown  in  Europe  ;  '^  and  we  might  well  doubt  their  existence 
in  this  semi-civilized  land,  were  it  not  a  matter  of  such  notoriety 
at  the  time,  and  so  explicitly  attested  by  the  invaders.  But  a 
generation  had  scarcely  passed  after  the  Conquest,  before  a  sad 
change  came  over  these  scenes  so  beautiful.  The  town  itself 
was  deserted,  and  the  shore  of  the  lake  was  strewed  with  the 
wreck  of  buildings  which  once  were  its  ornament  and  its  glor\-. 
The  gardens  shared  the  fate  of  the  cit\-.  The  retreating  waters 
withdrew  the  means  of  nourishment,  converting  the  flourishing 
plains  into  a  foul  and  unsightly  morass,  the  haunt  of  loathsome 
reptiles;  and  the  water-fowl  built  her  nest  in  what  had  once  been 
the  palaces  of  princes  !  '^' 

In  the  city  of  Iztapalapan,  Cone's  took  up  his  quarters  for  the 
night.  We  may  imagine  what  a  crowd  of  ideas  nuist  have  press- 
ed on  the  mind  of  the  Conqueror,  as,  surrounded  by  these  evi- 
dences of  ci\  ilization,  he  prepared  with  his  handful  of  followers  to 
enter  the  capital  of  a  monarch  who.  as  he  had  abundant  reason 
to  know,  regarded  him  with  distrust  and  aversion.  This  capital 
was  now  but  a  few  miles  distant,  distinctly  visible  from  Iztapa- 
lapan. And  as  its  long  lines  of  glittering  edifices,  struck  by  the 
rays  of  the  evening  sun,  trembled  on  the  dark-blue  waters  of 
the  lake,  it  looked  like  a  thing  of  fairy  creation,  rather  than  the 
work  of  mortal  hands.  Into  this  city  of  enchantment  Cortes 
prepared  to  make  his  entrv  on  the  following  morning. ^^ 

"'  The  earliest  instance  of  a  (harden  of  Plants  in  Eiuope  is  said  to  havo 
Lecn  at  I'adua,  in  1545-     C'arli,  Lettres  Aniericaines,  torn.  I.  let.   z\. 

'■'''  Rcl.  Set',  de  Cortes,  iibi  supra.  —  llerrera,  Hist.  Cleneral.  dec.  2  \\h.  7, 
ca];.  44. — Sahagun,  Hist,  tie  Nneva  Kspana,  MS.,  lil).  12  cap.  13. — Oviedo, 
llist.  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  33,  cap.  5. — Hernal  Dia/,  Hist.  d«  la  Conquista, 
■;ap.  87. 

"  Tl\ere  Aztlan  stood  uimi  lln:  f.ir'.lier  shore; 
Amid  tlir  sliadi-  of  tr<-i-s  ii^  d  wri  liii^i^s  rose, 
Their  level  iDofs  witli  tunvis  set  .iiouiid, 
And  battlements  all  Imrnisln-d  wliiU-.  wlnih  slioue 
Like  silver  in  the  sunshine.      I  bclirld 
Tile  im]>erial  cify,  her  far-eircrnr^  vs.d.is, 
H'-r  (garden  proves  and  stateiv  palaces, 
W-x  'enipies  mountain  s:/..-,  )i    r  thou^iiid  roofs; 
And  wh'-ii   I  saw  In-r  nuKht  ar.  1  niajr.ty, 
My  miud  mi  -ijave  m^-  then 

S'Ji  liiKv's  Madoc,  Part  i,c«nt«4i. 


564  MAKCH  TO  MEXICO. 


CHAPTER  iX. 
Environs   of    Mexico. — Interview  with    Montezuma. — ^Ew- 

TRANCE   INTO  THE  CAPITAL. HOSPITABLE    RECEPTION. — VlSlT 

TO  THE  Emperor. 

519- 

With  the  first  faint  streak  of  dawn,  the  Spanish  general  was 
up,  mustering  his  followers.  They  gathered,  with  beating  hearts, 
under  their  respective  banners,  as  the  trumpet  sent  forth  its 
spirit-stirring  sounds  across  water  and  woodland,  till  they  died 
away  in  distant  echoes  among  the  mountains.  The  sacred  flames 
on  the  altars  of  numberless  teocallis,  dimly  seen  through  the 
gray  mists  of  morning,  indicated  the  site  of  the  capital,  till 
temple,  tower  and  palace  were  fully  revealed  in  the  glorious  il- 
lumination which  the  sun,  as  he  arose  above  the  eastern  barrier, 
poured  o\er  the  beautiful  Valley.  It  was  the  eighth  of  Novem- 
ber, 1519  ;  a  conspicuous  day  in  history,  as  that  on  which  the 
Europeans  first  set  foot  in  the  capital  of  the  Western  World. 

Corte's  with  his  little  body  of  horse  formed  a  sort  of  advance 
guard  to  the  army. '  Then  came  the  Spanish  infantry,  who  in 
a  summer's  campaign  had  acquired  the  discipline,  and  the 
weather-beaten  aspect,  of  veterans.  The  baggage  occupied  the 
centre  ;  and  the  rear  was  closed  by  the  dark  files  of  Tlascalar* 
warriors.  The  whole  number  must  have  fallen  short  of  seven 
thousand  ;  of  which  less  than  four  hundred  were  Spaniards.^ 

For  a  short  distance,  the  army  kept  along  the  narrow  tongue 
of  land  that  divides  the  Tezcucan  from  the  Chalcan  waters, 
when  it  entered  on  the  great  dike,  which,  with  the  exception  of 
an  angle  near  the  commencement,  stretches  in  a  perfectly  straight 
line  across  ihe  salt  floods  of  Tezcuco  to  the  gates  of  the  capital. 
It  was  the   same   causeway,  or  rather  the   basis  of  thai,   which 

*  lie  took  about  6000  warriors  from  Tlascaia  ;  and  some  few  of  the  Cem- 
poallan  and  other  Indian  allies  continued  with  him.  The  Spanish  force  on 
leaving  Vera  Cruz  amounted  to  about  400  foot  and  15  horse.  In  the  re- 
monstrance of  the  disaffected  soldiers,  after  the  murderous  Tlascalan  com- 
bats, they  speak  of  having  lost  fiftv  of  their  number  since  the  beginning  of 
the  campaign.     Ante,  Vol.  I.  p.  458. 


ENVIROATS  OF  MEXICO. 


36s 


Still  form  the  great  southern  avenue  of  Mexico.'    The  Spaniards 

had  occasion  more  than  ever  to  admire  the  mechanical  science 
of  the  Aztecs,  \\\  the  geometrical  precision  with  which  the  woiic 
was  execuied,  as  well  as  the  solidit}'  of  its  construction.  It 
was  composed  of  huge  stones  well  laid  in  cement  ;  and  wide 
enough,  throughout  its  whole  extent,  for  ten  iiorsemen  to  ride 
abreast. 

They  saw,  as  they  passed  along,  several  large  towns,  resting 
01-  piles,  and  reaching  far  into  the  water, — a  kind  of  architecture 
which  found  great  favor  with  the  Aztecs,  being  in  imitation  of 
that  of  their  metropolis.^  The  busy  population  obtained  a  good 
subsistence  from  tiie  manufacture  of  salt,  which  they  extract- 
ed from  the  waiers  of  the  great  lake.  The  duties  on  the  traffic 
in  this  article  were  a  considerable  source  -^'f  revenue  10  the  crown. 

Ever,  where  the  Conquerors  beheld  the  evidence  ot  a  crowded 
and  thri\ing  population,  exceeding  all  they  had  yet  seen.  The 
temples  and  j^rincipai  buildings  of  the  cities  were  covered  with  a 
hard  white  stucco,  which  glistened  like  enamel  in  the  level  beams 
of  the  morning.  The  margin  of  the  great  basin  was  more 
thickly  gemmed,  than  that  of  Chalco,  with  to\\ns  and  hamlets.* 
The  water  was  darkened  by  swarms  of  canoes  filled  with  In- 
dians.^ who  clambered  up  the  sides  of  the  causeway,  and  gazed 
wuh  curious  astonishment  on  the  strangers.  And  here,  also, 
\}-\'.i\  belieid  ib.ose  fairy  islands  of  flowers,  overshadowed  occasion- 
al',- i'y  tiees  of  considerable  size,  rishig  and  f  ilii:;,'.';  with  the 
gjide  u:.duia"ion  of  the  billows.  At  the  ddiNiauce  ut  half  a 
lea^'.ie  froiu  the  capita),  they  encountered  a  solid  work  or  curtain 

'■^  "  f  .1  CMi/nda  (i'lztapalapan  est  f'iiidce  siir  cctte  nicme  digU!' anrienne, 
sur  I  -:atlie  Ciiji  tcz  fiL  ties  piociijies  cie  valcur  ciaus  scs  renioiuics  avcc  les 
as.-ic„t->,'"      liumboldt,  ii-Mii  Puutujiic,  toni.  II.  j).  57- 

■^Ani^iiitr  these  towiis  were  several  c^intauiii'ir  iroiii  liiree  >  iive  c>r  six 
tho".>arit!  iweiliir^s.  accordir.g  to  Cories,  vvluj.-.e  l)arbaruus  oi  li'.ographv  in 
r-r'>per  ri.i';i:;s  \\  ill  ;v'r  c;;si!y  be  recognized  by  Mexican  cr  Sp.ni.ird.  Ke', 
Seg.,  ap.  I.orenzana.  p.  "S. 

■■  Father  Toribio  lienavente  does  not  stint  t:i.->paiieg\ric  id  s;x,-ai-;i;.g  u;  the 
nei'iidxjrhoofi  of  the  capital,  which  he  saw  \\\  ii,g]or'\  "■  (he,,,  raie  t:\  loda 
n;it,stra  Earo])a  hav  pocas  ciudades  (pie  te:igan  iii  a^ieiiij  y  lal  iMinarca  con 
tanti)-  iiiieblos  a  ia  redonda  de  si  y  tan  bien  ;.seiila' :l.).-.  '  \\\-  .  de  i"-  In- 
''i  ;s,  MS..   I*arte  3.  cap.  7. 

•^  Ir.  is  not  necessarv,  however,  to  adopt  Herre.a's  aro'.iDtof  cooocaiiues. 
wii!.,h,  he  .-a'.'s,  wet':  constantiy  ernploved  in  supj;Iyii!g  tiie  cap:::u  •^■ii\  pro- 
vi^.^ons  ([i'i  '.  riciiera!.  dec.  2.  Kb.  7.  c.x'^.  14.)  The  poei-chfx  ielct 
S:a\'.  dia  i.-  li  jre  i:>cd'  st  in  li'i  (;sti!naw-. 

'     I)-i'    mil  V  ma-  r  ii,n;is  i';ir)n  fiia. 


al  a 


ini-  iitr>  hnmano." 


j65  MARCH  TO  MEXICO, 

of  Stone,  which  traversed  the  dike.     It  was  twelve  feet  high,  was 

strengthened  by  towers  at  the  extremities,  and  in  the  centre  was 
a  battlemented  gateway,  which  opened  a  passage  to  the  troops. 
It  was  called  the  Fort  of  Xoloc,  and  became  memorable  in 
aftertimes  as  the  position  occupied  by  Cortes  in  the  famous 
siege  of  Mexico. 

Here  they  were  met  by  several  hundred  Aztec  chiefs,  wlio 
came  out  to  announce  the  approach  of  Montezuma,  and  to  wel- 
come the  Spaniards  to  his  capital.  They  were  dressed  in  the 
fanciful  gala  costume  of  the  country,  with  the  maxtlatl,  or  cotton 
sash,  around  their  loins,  and  a  broad  mantle  of  the  same  mate- 
rial, or  of  the  brilliant  feather-embroidery,  flowing  gracefully 
down  their  shoulders.  On  their  necks  and  arms  they  displayed 
collars  and  bracelets  of  turquoise  mosaic,  with  which  delicate 
plumage  was  curiously  mingled,  while  their  ears,  under-lips,  and 
occasionally  their  noses,  were  garnished  with  pendants  formed 
of  precious  stones,  or  crescents  of  fine  gold.  As  each  cacique 
made  the  usual  formal  salutation  of  the  country  separately  to 
the  general,  the  tedious  ceremony  delayed  the  march  more  than 
an  hour.  After  this,  the  army  experienced  no  further  interrup- 
tion till  it  reached  a  bridge  near  the  gates  of  the  city.  It  was 
built  of  wood,  since  replaced  by  one  of  stone,  and  was  thrown 
across  an  opening  of  the  dike,  which  furnished  an  outlet  to  the 
waters,  when  agitated  by  the  winds,  or  swollen  by  a  sudden 
influx  in  the  rainy  season.  It  was  a  drawbridge  ;  and  the 
Spaniards,  as  they  crossed  it,  felt  how  truly  they  were  commii- 
ting  themselves  to  the  mercy  of  Montezuma,  who,  by  thus  cut- 
ting ofif  their  communications  with  the  country,  might  hold  them 
prisoners  in  his  capital.' 

In  the  midst  of  these  unpleasant  reflections,  they  beheld  the  glit- 
tering retinue  of  the  emperor  emerging  from  the  great  street  which 
led  then,  as  it  still  does,  through  the  heart  of  the  city.^   Amidst  a 

"  "  Usabaii  unos  brazaletes  de  musaico,  hechos  de  turquezas  con  unas 
plumas  ricas  que  salian  de  alios,  que  eran  ni  s  altas  que  la  cabeza,  y  borda- 
das  con  plumas  ricas  y  con  oro  y  unas  bandas  de  oio,  que  eubian  con  las 
plumas."     Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Xueva  Espana.  lib.  8,  cap.  9. 

"  Gonzalo  de  las  Casas,  Defensa,  MS.,  Parte  i,  cap.  24. — Gomara,  Cronica, 
cap.  65. — Bernal  Diaz,  Hist.de  la  Conquista,  cap.  88. — Oviedo,  Hist,  de  las 
Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  33,  cap.  5. — Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap  Lorenzana,  pp.  78,  79  — 
Ixtliixochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS,,  cap.  85. 

8  Cardinal  Lorenzana  says,  the  street  intended,  probably,  was  that  crossing 
the  city  from  the  Hospital  of  San  Antonio.  (Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  p.  79, 
nota. )  This  is  confirmed  by  Sahagun.  "  Y  asi  en  ac]uel  trechu  que  csti 
desde  la  Iglesia  de  San  Antonio  (que  ellos  llaman  Xuluco)  que  va  por  cave 
Us  casas  de  .Mvarado,  hacia  el  Hospital  de  la  Concepcion,  salio  Moctezuma 
k  recibir  de  paz  d  D,  Hernandu  Corter."  Hist,  de  Nue%a  Espana,  MS.,  liU. 
12,  cap.  16. 


INTERVIEW  WITH  MONTEZUMA,  36J 

crowd  of  Indian  nobles,  preceded  by  three  officers  of  state,  bear- 
ing golden  wands,^  they  sav,-  the  royal  palanquin  blazing  with  bur- 
nished gold.  It  was  borne  on  the  shoulders  of  nobles,  and  over  it 
a  canopy  of  gaudy  feather-work,  powdered  with  jewels,  and 
fringed  with  silver,  was  supported  by  four  attendants  of  the  same 
rank.  They  were  bare-footed,  and  walked  with  a  slow,  measured 
pace,  and  with  eyes  bent  on  the  ground.  When  the  train  had 
come  within  a  convenient  distance,  it  halted,  and  Montezuma,  de- 
scending from  his  litter,  came  forward  leaning  on  the  nrms  of  the 
lords  of  Tezcuco  and  Tztapalapan.  his  nephew  and  brother,  both 
of  whom,  as  we  have  seen  had  ahendv  been  ma'dv  known  tc 
the  Spar;iards.  As  t!ie  monarch  ad^■:lnced  under  ti't'  canopv. 
the  obsequious  attendants  strewed  the  ground  v.'.h  cotton 
lapestr}-.  that  his  mipcM'ial  feet  might  not  be  c  'ntami::  i'.ed  by  the 
rude  soil.  His  subjects  of  high  and  low  ck/.'ree,  v,ho  lined  the 
sides  of  the  causeway-,  bent  forward  with  their  eves  fastened  on 
the  ground  as  he  passed,  and  some  of  the  humbler  class  p-os- 
trated  themselves  before  hun.^''  Such  was  the  homa.'.^e  paid  to 
tl'.e  Indian  despot,  showing  that  the  slavish  forms  of  Orier^tal 
ad.ila'ion  were  to  be  found  among  the  rude  inhabitants  of  the 
Wes'ern  World. 

Moiitezuma  v.'ore  the  girdle  and  amr.le  square  clonk,  tihuutli, 
of  his  nation.  It  was  made  of  the  fine-i  cotton,  with  the  cmL.^  ;d- 
eied  ends  gathered  in  a  knot  round  his  neck.  H.is  feet  were 
dc-fended  bv  sandals  ha\-ing  soles  of  gohi,  and  tii^•  leatiicrn 
thongs  which  bound  thi;m  to  his  ankles  were  en^bossed  with  the 
s.nne  n.uMal.  Both  the  cloak  and  saiidals  were  spr'/.ikk-d  with 
P'--  ir's  nrid  iM-fcious  stones,  among  which  tht^  emerald  and  the 
<"/•  'Ic!:i:-:!l — a  green  stone  of  high'^r  estimation  than  any  other 
amor.g  tiie  yXztecs — were  conspicuoiis.  On  his  head  he  wore  no 
other  o!namcnt  than  'di  panache  of  j/lmnes  of  the  reyal  green 
w!ii-h  floaied  down  his  back,  the  batigc  of  military,  rather  than  ot 
v^^Ci,  rank. 

lie  was  at  iliis  time  about  forty  years  of  age.  II:s  p>'rson 
was  tail  and  thin,  but  ncn  ill-made.  J-Iis  hai:,  \\iiic}-;  was  black 
and  straicdn,  was  not  very  long  ;  to  wear  it  short  wp.s  considered 
unbecoming  p^ersons  of  rank.  Mis  beard  was  ll  :^  ;  h:s  c om- 
jjlexion  somewhat  jiaier  than  is  (jften  ffamd  in  lii-  dusky,  or 
rather  coerx'-'-celorerl  r;ice.  I'i:.  fervare-.,  .ioULfh  .serious  in 
their  exprt^^sion.  did  not  weai'  the  lof<k  of  melanclio; y.  indeed,  ol 

'Cartadel  I.ic.  Zna.''i>,  MS. 

''  *' Toda  li  ger.tc  i^w  i--.i..l).!.  en  'as  cnllcs  si  ir  iiimiiii:il>,Lii  \  ii:ici:ui  j  ra- 
fuTvda  revereni-^')  V  ;rr.Ti'ii-  ;ic.-)':nie'-!!t'>  '  in  I'-v.iiif.Tr  :  is  c)i'"^;'ilc  niir.ir,  -ino 
que  todo'^  r^  ;:i;);i'i  t'r>'-tri  (j i)',  e!  ci  i  ]),is.'Ki(),  Ini  nuiinadoi  ..jru'/rayic:  /;■'. 
Gio»-ia  Patr  ."     Turihio,  His*,    dc  1 -s  Indios.   MS.,   r,..'-le  3.  la]^   -7. 


-68  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

dejection,  which  characterizes  his  portrait,  and  which  may  well 
have  settled  on  them  at  a  later  period.  He  moved  with  dignity, 
and  his  whole  demeanor,  tempered  by  an  expression  of  benignity 
not  to  have  been  anticipated  from  the  reports  circulated  of  his 
character,  was  worthy  of  a  great  prince. — Such  is  the  portrait  left 
to  us  of  the  celebrated  Indian  emperor,  in  this  his  first  interview 
with  the  white  men." 

The  army  halted  as  he  drew  near.  Cortes,  dismounting,  threw 
his  reins  to  a  page,  and,  supported  by  a  few  of  the  principal 
cavaliers,  advanced  to  meet  him.  The  interview  must  have 
been  one  of  uncommon  interest  to  both.  In  Montezuma,  Cortes 
beheld  the  lord  of  the  broad  realms  he  had  traversed,  whose 
magnificence  and  power  had  been  the  burden  of  every  tongue. 
In  the  Spaniard,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Aztec  prince  saw  the 
strange  being  whose  history  seemed  to  be  so  mysteriously  con- 
nected with  his  own  ;  the  predicted  one  of  his  oracles  ;  whose 
achievements  proclaimed  him  something  more  than  human.  But, 
whatever  may  have  been  the  monarch's  feelings,  he  so  far  sup- 
pressed them  as  to  receive  his  guest  with  princely  courtesy,  and 
to  express  his  satisfaction  at  personally  seeing  him  in  his  capi- 
tal.^" Cortds,  responded  by  ilie  most  profound  expressions  of 
respect,  while  he  made  ample  acknowledgments  for  the  sub- 
stantial proofs  which  the  emperor  had  given  the  Spaniards  of 
his  munificence.  He  then  hung  round  Montezuma's  neck  a 
sparkling  chain  of  colored  crystal,  accompanving  this  with  a 
movement  as  if  to  embrace  him,  when  he  was  restrained  by  the 
two  Aztec  lords    shocked    at   the  menaced    profanation    of  the 

11  For  the  preceding  account  of  the  equipage  and  appearance  of  Montezu- 
ma, see  BernaJ  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  88,  —  Carta  de  Zuazo, 
MS., — Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  85, — Gomara,  Cronica,  cap.  65, 
— Oviedo,  Hist,  de  las  Ind. ,  MS.,  ubi  supra,  et  cap.  45, — Acosta,  lib.  7, 
cap.  22, — Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Neuva  Espana,  MS.,  lib.  12,  cap.  16, — Toribio, 
Hist,  de  los  Indios,  MS.,  Parte  3,  cap.  7. 

The  noble  Castilian,  or  rather  Mexican  bard,  Saavedra,  who  belonged  to 
the  generation  after  the  Conquest,  has  introduced  most  of  the  particulars  in 
his  rhyming  chronicle.  The  following  specimen  will  probably  suffice  for  the 
reader. 

'  Yva  el  grail  Moteguma  atauiado 
De  maiita  afu!  y  blaiica  con  gran  falda, 
De  algodon  niuy  sutil  y  deiicado, 

Y  al  remate  vna  concha  de  esraerilda  : 
En  la  parte  que  el  niido  tiene  dado, 

V  una  tiara  A  mode  de  guirnalda, 
Zapatos  que  de  ore  son  las  suelas 
Asidos  con  may  ricas  correhuelas.'' 

El  Peregrino,  Indiano,  canto  u. 

"  Satis  vultu  laeto."  says  Martyr,  "an  stomacho  sedatus,  et  an  hospites 
per  vim  quis  unquam  libens  susceperit  experti  loauantur-"  D«  Orbe  Novo 
dec.  5,  cap.  3. 


HOSriTABLK  RECEPTION.  ^gg 

•acred  person  of  their  master/^  After  the  interchange  of  these 
civilities,  Montezuma  appointed  his  brother  to  conduct  the 
Spaniards  to  tiieir  residence  in  the  capital,  and  again  entering 
his  litter  was  borne  olf  amidst  prosnate  crowds  in  the  same 
state  in  which  he  had  come.  The  Spaniards  quickly  followed,  and 
with  colors  tiying  and  music  playing  soon  made  their  entrance 
into  the  southern  quarter  of  Tcnochtitlan,^^ 

Ik'i'e,  again,  they  found  fresh  cause  for  admiration  in  the 
gramlenr  of  the  city,  and  the  superior  style  of  its  architecture. 
The  liv.ellings  of  tlie  poorer  class  were,  indeed,  chieliv  of  reeds 
and  muil.  But  the  great  avenue  throuyh  which  the}-  were  now 
marciii;;^;  v,as  lined  wiih  the  iit-uses  if  the  nobles,  who  were 
e'icou;,igt:il  ]))  the  eniporor  to  make  ihc  capital  ihcii'  residence. 
They  were  built  of  a  red  porous  stone  drawn  from  ciuarries  in 
the  neighborliood,  and,  though  they  rarely  rose  to  a  second  story, 
often  covered  a  large  space  of  ground.  The  flat  roofs,  azoicas, 
were  protected  by  stone  parrqjets,  so  that  every  house  was  a 
fortress.  Sometimes  the^e  roots  resembled  parterres  of  flowers, 
so  tiiickly  were  they  covered  with  tfiem.  but  more  frequently 
these  were  cuhivaied  in  broad  terraced  g;irdens,  laid  out  between 
the  editices.-''^  Occasionally  a  great  square  or  market-place  in- 
tervened, sarrounded  by  its  poriicos  of  stone  and  stucco;  or  a 
pyramidal  temple  reared  its  col 'ssal  bulk,  crowned  with  its  taper- 
ing san.cinaries,  atv.l  altars  blazing  with  inextinguishable  fiies. 
Tiie  great  street  lacing  the  soiuhern  cansev/ay,  unlike  most 
others  in  the  [jjace,  was  wide,  and  extended  some  miles  in  nearly 
a  straigiit  line,  as  before  noticvMl.  tltrough  tlie  centre  of  the  city. 
A  spectator  standi'. g  at  one  endi  of  il,  as  iiis  eve  ranged  along 
the  deep  vista  of  tcin:;ies.  tcrr.ices,  and  gardens,  might  clearly 
discern  the  other,  widi  the  blue  mountains  in  the  distance, 
which,  in  tliC  transparent  atmosi)here  of  the  table-land,  seemed 
almost  i  1  '-■  ntaet  \.:th  the  buildings. 

Luc  what  most  impressed  the  Spaniards  was  tlie  throng.-,  of 
peo'jle  who  swarmed  tiirougli  the  streets  and  <.n  tlie  ca!::'.is.  till- 
ing e\ery  door-way  and  witulow,  and  clusteting  on  die  roufs  ot 
the  buildings.  '"  I  well  remember  the  spectacle."  exclaims 
Ijernal  Diaz;  "  it  sccnis  ir;>w,  ;iaer  so  many  \ears,  as  j>resent  to 
mv  miiid,  as   if    it  were   I'l.t    \  osterday.'"'''     J]ut   what   nuist  have 

'-  U'A.  S'  ?,.  ur.  I'urltj^,.  ai'i.   I  .orcii/.ana.  i).  ~i). 

•*  ■'  ]•;:,!!  .il .  Ml  fii  la  'iiiiiixl  tie  Mt'jii  o  a  ]Kii;t'i  tic  j'utria,  tncandi)  los  ataui- 
Ivr  s.  V  ;";i  'i.a'.'ic!  .;s  (l^^!)!(•l•.a(la-/'  iV.;.  ^  iL.ii'nii,  lli.^t.  de  N  ueva  K.spafia, 
M>..  ::',>.    I  -',  .  -.ji.    1  5. 

■■'  "  !',!  j;!ai''i;n  .uli  •  t  ha-,  :,  <  1,'  t_ja  ■  (>-,  inaia\'ii_iio.sa  (i.i  vcdcif."  kt., 
d'  uii  C''  'T-,  'Ml.   Iiam,.-.;o.  ■.■■iw.    \\\.   [  >\.    ;■  y, 

1  '■  <^ui'jii  ;-M,'i!  'i/'  cx'-.atiii-  1  nc  eld  s-!':;r>,  '  dc/ir  l.i  n.ultii'ii  d'  :ui:  ,  .re -, 
y   mugerc;-.,  miiLiiaciios,  que   esiauan   en   la*   railes,  e   acinic. ;-,  •.    ' 'i    (  ,:i.,.s 


-»0  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

been  the  sensations  of  the  Aztecs  themselves,  as  they  looked  off 
the  portentous  pageant !  as  they  heard,  now  for  the  first  time, 
the  well-cemented  pavement  ring  under  the  iron  tramp  of  the 
horses, — the  strange  animals  which  fear  had  clothed  in  such  super- 
natural terrors  ;  as  they  gazed  on  the  children  of  the  East,  reveal- 
ing their  celestial  origin  in  their  fair  complexions  ;  saw  the  bright 
falchions  and  bonnets  of  steel,  a  metal  to  them  unknown,  glanc 
ing  like  meteors  in  the  sun,  while  sounds  of  unearthly  music — at 
least,  such  as  their  rude  instruments  had  never  wakened — floated 
in  the  air !  But  every  other  emotion  was  lost  in  that  of  dead 
ly  hatred,  when  they  beheld  their  detested  enemy,  the  Tlascalan, 
stalking,  in  defiance,  as  it  were,  through  their  streets,  and  staring 
around  v/ith  looks  of  ferocity  and  wonder,  like  some  wild  animal 
of  the  forest,  who  had  strayed  by  chance  from  his  native  fast- 
nesses into  the  haunts  of  civilization.''' 

As  they  passed  down  the  spacious  street,  the  troops  repeatedly 
traversed  bridges  suspended  above  canals,  along  which  they  saw 
the  Indian  barks  gliding  swiftly  with  their  little  cargoes  of  fruits 
and  vegetables  for  the  markets  of  Tenochtitlan/*  At  length,  they 
hailed  before  a  broad  area  near  the  centre  of  the  city,  where  rose 
the  huge  pyramidal  pile  dedicated  to  the  patron  war-god  of  the 
Aztecs,  second  only,  in  size,  as  well  as  sanctity,  to  the  temple  of 
Cholula,  and  covering  the  same  ground  now  in  part  occupied  by 
the  great  cathedral  of  Mexico. 

Facing  the  western  gate  of  the  inclosure  of  the  temple,  stood 
a  low  range  of  stone  buildings,  spreading  over  a  wide  extent  o: 
ground,  the  palace  of  Axayacatl,  ^Montezuma's  father,  built  by 
that  monarch  about  fifty  years  before. '^  It  was  appropriated  as 
the  barracks  of  the  Spaniards.  The  emperor  himself  was  in  the 
courtyard,  waiting  to  receive  them.  Approaching  Cortes,  he 
took  from  a  vase  of  flowers,  borne  by  one  of  his  slaves,  a  massy 

en  aquellas  acequias,  (jue  nos  salian  a  mirar  ?  Era  cosa  de  notar,  que  agora 
que  lo  estoy  escriuiendo,  se  me  repieseiita  todo  delaiue  de  mis  ojos,  como  :,! 
ayer  tuera  quando  esto  passo."     Hi^t.  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  88. 

i''"'Ad  bpeclaculum,"  says  the  penetraiing  Martyr,  "tandem  Hispanis 
placidum,  quia  diu  optatum,  Tenustiatanis  prudentibus  forte  aliter,  quia 
verentur  fore,  vt  hi  hospites  quietem  suam  iJysiam  veniant  perturbaturi  ; 
de  populo  secus,  qui  nil  sentit  aeque  delectabile,  quam  res  novas  ante  oculos 
in  presentiarum  habere,  de  future  nihil  anxius."  De  Orbe  Novo,  dec.  ly 
cap.  3. 

18  The  euphonious  name  of  Tenochtttlan  is  commonly  derived  from  Aztec 
words  signifying  "the  titno,  or  cactus,  on  a  rock."  the  appearance  of  which, 
as  the  reader  may  rememlser,  was  to  determine  the  site  of  the  future  capital. 
(Toribio,  Mist,  de  los  Indios,  Parte  3,  cap.  7. — Esplic  de  la  Colec  :  dc 
Mendoza,  ap.  Antiq.  of  Mexico,  vol.  IV.)  Another  etymology  derives  the 
word  from  Tevorh,  the  name  of  one  of  the  founders  of  the  monarchy. 

"  Clavigero.  Stor.  del  Messico,  torn.  HI.  p.  78. 


HOSPITABLE  IlECEP TIOX. 


37' 


collar,  in  which  the  shell  of  a  species  of  craw-hsh,  much  prized 
by  the  Indians,  was  set  in  gold,  and  connected  by  hea\y  linkii 
of  ihc  same  metal.  From  this  chain  depended  eight  ornaments, 
also  of  gold,  made  in  resemblance  of  the  same  shell-lish,  a  span 
in  length  each,  and  of  delicate  workmanship ;  "■"  for  the  Aztec 
goldsmiths  were  confessed  to  have  shown  skill  in  their  craft, 
not  inferior  to  their  brethren  of  Europe.^^  Montezuma,  as  he 
hung  the  gorgeous  collar  round  the  general's  neck,  said,  '"  This 
palace  belongs  to  you,  Malinche," '-''-  (the  epithet  by  which  he 
always  addressed  him,)  '■  and  your  brethren.  Rest  after  your 
fatigues,  for  you  have  much  need  to  do  so,  and  in  a  little  while 
I  will  visit  you  again."  So  saying,  he  withdrew  with  his  attend- 
ants, evincing,  in  this  act,  a  delicate  consideration  not  to  have 
been  expected  in  a  barbarian. 

Cortds'  lirst  care  was  to  inspect  his  new  quarters.  The  build- 
ing, though  spacious,  was  low,  consisting  of  one  tioor,  except, 
indeed,  in  the  centre,  where  it  rose  to  an  additional  story.  The 
apartments  were  of  great  size,  and  afforded  accomanodations, 
according  to  the  testimony  of  the  Conquerors  themselves,  for  the 
whole  ami}- !  '^  The  hardy  mountaineers  of  Tlascala  were,  prob- 
ably, not  very  fastidious,  and  might  easily  find  a  shelter  in  the 
out-buildings,  or  under  temporary  awnings  in  the  ample  court- 
yards. The  best  apartments  were  hung  with  gay  cotton  drape- 
ries, the  floors  covered  with  mats  or  rushes.  There  were,  also, 
low  stools  made  of  single  pieces  of  wood  elaborately  carved,  and 
in  most  of  the  apartments  beds  made  of  the  palm-leaf,  woven 
into  a  thick  mat,  with  coverlets,  and  sometimes  canopies  of  cot- 
ton. These  mats  were  the  only  beds  used  by  the  natives, 
whether  of  high  or  low  degree.^ 

After  a  rapid  survey  of  this  gigantic  pile,  the  general  assigned 

It  occupied  what  is  now  the  corner  of  the  streets.  "  Del  Indio  Triste  "  and 
"Tacuba."       Iluml^oldt,  Vues  des  Cordilleres,  p.  7,  et  seq. 

'"'  Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana,  p.  88. — C.onzalo  de  las  Casas, 
Defensa,  MS.,  Parte  i,  cap.  24. 

2^  Boturini  says,  greater,  by  the  acknowledgment  of  the  goldsmiths  thcm- 
lelves.  "  Los  plateros  de  Aladrid,  viendo  aigunas  Piczas,  y  lir.azaletcs  d- 
oro,  con  que  se  armaban  en  guerra  los  Reyes,  y  Capitanes  Indianos,  con- 
fessaron,  (jue  eran  inimitables  en  Kuiop.T.'"  (Idea.  p.  78.)  And  Oviedo, 
speaking  of  their  work  in  jewelry,  remark-,  "  lo  vi  aigunas  piedras  jaspcs, 
ealcidonias,  jacin'fjs,  cornifLT-.  e  plasmas  ''1'  esmeraldas,  e  otras  de  otraa 
cspecies  labradas  e  fechas,  cabczas  de  Aves,  e  otras  hechas  animales  e  otras 
figuras,  cjue  dudo  habcr  en  l^spana  ni  en  Italia  quien  las  supura  haccr  con 
tanta  perficion."      Mist,  de  las  Ind..  MS..  111)33.  cap.  11. 

••»  Ante,  Vol.  I.  p.  483. 

'^  Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  1 'onq-iis:,!.  cap.  88. — Rel.  Seg.  de  Coitcs,  .ip. 
Lorenzana.  m.  80. 

^i  Ber!i:,i  Diaz,  Ibid.,  loc  ,jit,— f  1 .  ic  !  ..  \\\-\.  C\-  l.i.  h,i,,  \\\^. .':'-.  \^, 
cap.   5.  —  S,..i.igini,   Ilisl.  de    .N'ucva   lliM):ifia,  '^l^.,  i:'>.    ij.L.ip.    \  1. 


■z-  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

his  troops  their  respective  quarters,  and  took  as  vigilant  pre- 
cautions for  security,  as  if  he  had  anticipated  a  siege,  instead  of 
a  friendly  entertainn:ient.  The  place  was  encompassed  by  a 
stone  ■'.pall  of  considerable  thickness,  with  towers  or  heavy  but- 
tresses at  intervals,  affording  a  good  means  of  defence.  He 
planted  his  cannon  so  as  to  command  the  approaches,  stationed 
his  sentinels  along  the  works,  and,  in  short,  enforced  in  every 
respec  as  strict  military  discipline  as  had  been  observed  in  any 
part  of  the  march.  He  well  knew  the  importance  to  his  little 
band,  at  least  for  the  present,  of  conciliating  the  good-will  of  the 
citizens  ;  and,  to  avoid  all  possibility  of  collision,  he  prohibited 
any  soldier  from  leaving  his  quarters  without  orders,  under  pain 
of  death.  Having  taken  these  precautions,  he  allowed  his  men 
to  partake  of  the  bountiful  collation  which  had  been  prepared 
for  them. 

They  had  been  long  enough  in  the  country  to  become  recon- 
ciled 10,  if  not  to  relish,  the  peculiar  cooking  of  the  Aztecs. 
The  appetite  of  the  soldier  is  not  often  daint}-,  and  on  the  pres- 
ent occasion  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  Spaniards  did  full 
justice  to  the  savory  productions  of  the  royal  kitchen.  During 
the  meal  they  were  served  by  numerous  Mexican  siaves,  who 
were,  indeed,  distributed  through  the  palace,  anxious  to  do  the 
bidding  of  tiie  strangers.  After  the  repast  was  concluded,  and 
they  had  taken  their  siesta,  not  less  important  to  a  Spaniard  than 
food  itself,  the  presence  of  the  emperor  was  again  announced. 

Montezuma  was  attended  by  a  few  of  his  principal  nobles. 
He  was  received  with  much  deference  by  Cortds  ;  and,  after  the 
parties  had  taken  their  seats,  a  conversation  commenced  between 
them,  through  the  aid  of  Dona  Marina,  while  the  cavaliers  and 
Aztec  chieftains  stood  around  in  respectful  silence. 

Montezuma  made  inany  inquiries  concerning  the  country  of  the 
Spaniards,  their  sovereign,  the  nature  of  his  government,  and 
e.-^pecially  their  own  mciives  in  visiting  Anahuac.  Cortes  ex- 
];!ained  these  motives  by  the  desire  to  see  so  distinguished  a 
monarchy  and  to  declare  to  him  the  true  Faith  professed  by  the 
Christians.  With  rare  discretion,  he  contented  liimself  with  drop- 
ping this  hint,  for  the  present,  allowing  it  lo  ripen  in  the  mind 
of  the  emperor,  till  a  future  conference.  The  latter  asked,  whether 
those  while  men,  who  in  the  preceding  year  had  landed  on  the 
eastern  sliores  of  h-is  empire,  were  their  countrymen.  He 
slio'.ved  himself  well  informed  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Span- 
iards from  their  arrival  in  Tabasco  to  the  present  time,  informa- 
tion of  wliich  had  been  regularly  transmitted  in  the  hieroglyphii- 
cal  paintings.  He  was  curious,  also,  in  regard  to  the  rank  '^f 
his  visitors   i;i    their   cw^    cor:r,rry  ;   inquiring,  if   they  v,\:re    ike 


HOSPITABLE  RECETTION: 


Zll 


kinsmen  of  the  sovereign.  Cortes  replied,  they  were  kinsmen 
of  one  another,  and  subjects  of  their  great  nionarcli,  who  heid 
them  all  in  peculiar  estimation.  Before  his  departure,  Mon- 
tezuma made  himself  acquainted  with  the  names  of  the 
principal  cavaliers,  and  the  position  they  occupied  in  the 
army. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  hiterview,  the  Aztec  prince  com 
manded  liis  attendants  to  bring  forward  the  presents  prepared 
for  his  guests.  They  consisted  of  cotton  dresses,  enough  to  supply 
every  man,  it  is  said,  including  the  allies,  with  a  suit  !  ^  And 
he  did  not  fail  to  add  the  usual  accompaniment  of  gold  chains 
and  other  ornaments,  which  he  distributed  in  profusion  among 
the  Spaniards.  He  then  withdrew  with  the  same  ceremony  with 
which  he  had  entered,  leaving  every  one  deeply  impressed  with 
his  muniiicence,  and  his  affability  so  unlike  what  they  had  been 
taught  to  expect,  by,  what  they  now  considered,  an  invention  of 
the  enenn .  '■ 

That  evening,  the  Spaniards  celebrated  their  arrival  in  the 
Mexican  capital  by  a  general  discharge  of  artillery.  The  thun- 
ders of  the  ordnance  reverberating  among  the  buildings  and 
shaking  t!;em  to  their  foundations,  the  stench  of  the  sulphureous 
vapor  that  rolled  in  volumes  above  the  walls  of  the  encampment, 
remindii^.g  the  inhabitants  of  the  explosions  of  the  great  volcati., 
filled  the  hearts  of  the  superstitious  Aztecs  with  dismay.  It 
proclaimed  to  them,  that  their  city  held  in  its  bosom  those 
dread  beings  whose  path  had  been  marked  with  desolation,  and 
who  could  call  down  the  thunderbolts  to  consume  their  enemies! 
It  was  doubtless  the  policy  of  Cortes  to  strengthen  this  super- 
stitious feeling  as  far  as  possible,  and  to  im]")ress  the  natives,  at 
the  outset,  with  a  salutary  awe  of  the  supernatural  powers  of  the 
Spaniards.-' 

^  "  Muchas  y  diver.-,as  Joyas  de  Oro,  y  Plata,  y  Plumaies,  y  con  fasta  cinco 
6  seis  mi!  Pi'.:/u,-  dc  Ropa  dc  Algodon  muv  licas,  y  cie  diversas  nianeras 
texida,  y  labrada."  (i<el.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  Loreiizana,  p.  8(j.  )  Even  this 
falls  short  of  truth,  according  to  Diaz.  "  Tenia  apercebido  el  gran  Monto- 
9uma  muv  ricas  joyas  de  oro,  y  de  muchas  hechuras,  (jue  d)<)  a  nueslra 
Cai)itan,  e  a.ssi  inismtj  a  cada  vno  de  nuesiros  Capilanes  di(')  cositas  de  oro, 
V  tres  cargas  de  niantas  de  labores  ricas  de  pluma,  y  cntre  todos  los  soldadus 
tainhien  nos  dio  a  cada  vno  a  dos  cargas  dc  manias,  con  alegria,  y  en  todo 
parecia  gran  senor."  (Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  S9.)  "  Sex  millia  vestium, 
aiunt,  que  eas  videre."      Martyr,  De  Orbe  Novo,  dec.  5,  cap.  3. 

*■'  I.xtlilxochitl.  Chich.,  MS.,ca|).Sy — ( loniara,  Cronica,  cap.  (^3.  —  Hcrrera, 
Hist.  Genera!,  dec.  2,  lib.  7,  ca]).  6. — I'ernal  Diaz,  Ii)i(l.,  uhi  u[ira, — Oviedo, 
Hist,  de  las  Irid.,  MS.,  lib.  33,  'ap.   5. 

-'"  ■  La  noclii;  siguifiile  juj;iioii  ia  artillen'a  por  la  Kolemnidad  de  haher 
ll«gado  sin  clano  a  doude  dcsr.iij.m  ;  pero  los  Indios  (onio  no  usados  ;i  los 
truencjs  de  l-t  artiUeria,  mal  cdor  de  la   p6lvura,   recibieion  giaiuic  alieraciou 


374 


MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 


On  the  following  morning,  the  general  requested  permissioa 
to  return  the  emperor's  visit,  by  waiting  on  him  in  his  palace. 
This  was  readily  granted,  and  Montezuma  sent  his  officers  to 
conduct  the  Spaniards  to  his  presence.  Cortes  dressed  himself 
in  his  riciiest  habit,  and  left  tlie  quarters  attended  by  x\lvarado, 
Sandoval,  Velasquez,  and  Ordaz,  together  with  five  or  six  of  the 
common  iile. 

The  royal  habitation  was  at  no  great  distance.  It  stood  on 
the  ground,  to  the  south-west  of  the  cathedral,  since  covered  in 
part  by  the  Casa  del  Estado^  the  palace  of  the  dukes  of  Mon- 
leleonc,  the  descendants  of  Cortes.^  It  was  a  vast,  irregular 
pile  of  low  stone  buildings,  like  that  garrisoned  by  the  Span- 
iards. So  spacious  was  it,  indeed,  that,  as  one  of  the  Conquerors 
assures  us,  although  he  had  visited  it  more  than  once,  for  the 
express  purpose,  he  had  been  too  much  fatigued  each  time  by 
wandering  through  the  apartments  ever  to  see  the  whole  of  it." 
It  was  built  of  the  red  porous  stone  of  the  coumr}-,  ietzontli^  was 
ornamented  with  marble,  and  on  the  fa9ade  over  the  principal 
entrance  ware  sculptured  the  arms  or  device  of  Montezuma,  an 
eagle  bearing  an  ocelot  in  his  talons.^'' 

In  the  courts  through  which  the  Spaniards  ]")assed,  fountains 
of  crystal  water,  were  playing,  fed  from  the  copious  reservoir 
on  the  distant  hill  of  Chapolicpec,  and  supplying  in  their 
turn  more  than  a  hundred  baths  in  the  interior  of  the  palace. 
Crowds  of  Aztec  nobles  were  sauntering  up  and  dov>'n  in  these 
squares,  and  in  the  outer  halls,  loitering  away  their  hours  in 
attendance  on  the  court.  The  apartments  were  of  imniense  size, 
though  not  lofty.  The  ceilings  were  of  various  sorts  of  odorif- 
erous wood  ingeniously  carved  ;  the  floors  covered  with  mats 

y  niiedo  toda  aqueila  noche."  Sahagun,  Hist,  de  Nueva  Espana,  MS.,  lib. 
12,  cap.   17. 

^  "C'est  Ik  fjue  la  familla  construisit  le  bel  edifice  CariS  lequei  se  trou\  ent 
les  archives  del  Estado,  et  qui  est  passe  avec  tout  I'heritage  au  Liuc  Napoli- 
tain  de  Monteleone."  (ITumboidt,  Essai  Politirnie,  toni.  It.  p.  72.)  The 
inhabitants  of  modern  Mexico  have  large  ob'ir'ations  to  this  inquisitive 
traveller,  for  'he  care  he  has  taken  to  identify  the  memorable  localities  of 
their  capital.  It  is  not  often  that  a  philosophical  treatise  is,  also,  a  good 
fnamiel  du  7'oyageur. 

29  "  Et  io  entrai  piii  di  cuattro  volte  in  una  casa  del  gran  Signor  non  per 
altro  effetto  che  per  vederla,  et  cgni  volta  vi  camminauo  tanto  che  mi  slaiv 
cauo,  et  mai  la  fini  di  vedere  tutta."  Rcl.  d'  un  gent.,  ap.  Ramusio,  torn, 
III,  fol,  309. 

'  Gomara,  Cr6;iica,  cap.  71.  —  Ilerrera,  Hist.  Geneial,  de.\  2,  lib.  7, 
cap;  9. 

i'lie  authorities  call  it  ''  tiger,"  an  animal  not  known  in  America.  I  have 
ventured  to  substitute,  the  "ocelotl,"  rlaioceloti  of  Me.xico,  a  native  animal, 
wliich,  bring  if  'he  same  fr',nii;v,  might  easily  be  confounded  by  the  Span> 
iarus  v/it-i  ihe  liter  of  the  Old  ("ontinent. 


VISIT  TO   THE  EMPEROK.  ^75 

of  the  palm-leaf.  The  walls  were  hung  with  cotton  richly 
stained,  with  the  skins  of  wild  animals,  or  gorgeous  draperies  of 
feather-work  wrought  in  imitation  of  birds,  insects,  and  flowers, 
with  the  nice  art  and  glowing  radiance  of  colors  that  might 
compare  with  the  tapestries  of  Flanders.  Clouds  of  incense 
rolled  up  trom  censers,  and  diffused  intoxicating  odors  through 
the  apartments.  The  Spaniards  might  well  have  fancied  them- 
selves in  the  voluptuous  precincts  of  an  Eastern  harem,  instead 
of  treading  the  halls  of  a  wild  barbaric  chief  in  the  Western 
World.^i 

On  reaching  the  hall  of  audience,  the  Mexican  officers  took 
off  their  sandals,  and  covered  their  gay  attire  with  a  mantle  of 
nequen,  a  coarse  stuff  made  of  the  fibres  of  the  maguey,  worn 
only  by  the  poorest  classes.  This  act  of  humiliation  was  imposed 
on  all,  except  the  members  of  his  own  family,  who  approached 
the  sovereign.**  Thus  bare-footed,  with  down-cast  eyes,  and 
formal  obeisance,  they  ushered  the  Spaiiiards  into  the  royal 
presence. 

They  found  Montezuma  seated  at  the  further  end  of  a  spacious 
saloon,  and  surrounded  by  a  few  of  his  favorite  chiefs.  He 
received  them  kindly,  and  very  soon  Cortes,  without  much  cere- 
mony, entered  on  the  subject  which  was  uppermost  in  h'ls 
thoughts.  He  was  fully  aware  of  the  importance  of  gaining  the 
royal  convert,  whose  example  would  have  such  an  influence  on 
the  conversion  of  his  people.  The  general,  therefore,  prepared 
to  display  the  whole  store  of  his  theological  science,  with  the 
most  winning  arts  of  rhetoric  he  could  command,  while  the  inter- 
pretation was  conveyed  through  the  silver  tones  of  Marina,  as 
inseparable  from  him,  on  these  occasions,  as  his  shadow. 

He  set  forth,  as  clearly  as  he  could,  the  ideas  entertained  by 
the  Church  in  regard  to  the  holy  mysteries  of  the  Trinity,  the 
Incarnation,  and  tlie  Atonement.  From  this  he  ascended  to  the 
origin  of  things,  tlie  creation  of  the  world,  the  first  pair,  paradise, 
and  the  fall  of  man.     He  assured  Montezuma,  that  the  idols  he 

81  Toribio,  Hist,  de  los  Indios.  MS..  l\T!te  3,  caji.  7.  —  Ileirei.i,  Hist. 
General,  dec.  2,  lib.  7,  cap.  y.— ( i.an.ua,  rronica,  cap.  71. —  bemal  Diaz, 
Hiit.  de  la  t.'oiKjuista,  cap.  91.— Ovicdd,  Il:-t.  <ie  las  Iiid.,  MS.,  lib.  33,  cap. 
5,  46. —  Rel.  .Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.   I  nr  cn/aii.i.  '.■\).  i  ri-i  14. 

'^'  "'  Para  entrar  en  su  palacio,  d  <nie  eJlos  llanian  'lecpa,  todu.^  se  descal- 
zaV>an,  y  los  que  enlraban  a  negociar  con  el  iiabian  dc  llcvar  !naiila.~>  groseias 
encinia  de  si,  y  si  eran  grandes  senorcs  n  en  ticinpo  defrio,  sobrc  las  inantas 
buenas  que  llevabaii  vcstidas,  pnnian  nna  inanta  j.>iosera  y  poljre  ;  y  p:iia 
hahiarle,  eslaban  inii','  iiuniiii.ados  y  siii  !c\anlar  lo^  ojos."'  ('i'oribio,  li>t 
de  I'js  Indio^,  MS.,  I'ai'.c  3,  cap.  7.)  There-  is  no  belter  authority  than  thin 
worthy  missionary,  tor  tliK  usages  ut  the  ancient  .A/.tecs,  ut  which  he  ha4 
ftuch  large  persunal  knuwledge. 


-^,s  MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 

worshipped  were  Satan  under  different  forms.  A  sufficient 
proof  of  it  was  tlie  bloody  sacrifices  they  imposed,  which  he 
contrasted  with  the  pure  and  simple  rite  of  the  mass.  Their 
worship  would  sink  him  in  perdition.  It  was  to  snatch  his  soul, 
and  the  souls  of  his  people,  from  the  flames  of  eternal  fire  by 
opening  to  them  a  purer  faith,  that  the  Christians  had  come  to 
his  land.  And  he  earnestly  besought  him  not  to  neglect  the 
occasion,  but  to  secure  his  salvation  by  embracing  the  Cross, 
the  great  sign  of  hum.an  redemption. 

The  eloquence  of  the  preacher  was  wasted  on  the  insensible 
heart  of  his  royal  auditor.  It,  doubtless,  lost  somewhat  of  its 
efficacy,  strained  through  the  imperfect  interpretation  of  so  re- 
cent a  neophyte  as  the  Indian  damsel.  But  the  doctrines  were 
too  abstruse  in  themselves  to  be  comprehended  at  a  glance  by 
the  rude  intellect  of  a  barbarian.  And  Montezuma  may  have, 
perhaps,  thought  it  was  not  more  monstrous  to  feed  on  the  flesh 
of  a  fellow-creature,  than  on  that  of  the  Creator  himself.  ^  He 
was,  besides,  steeped  in  the  superstitions  of  his  country  from  his 
cradle.  He  had  been  educated  in  the  straitest  sect  of  her 
religion  ;  had  been  himself  a  priest  before  his  election  to  the 
throne  ;  and  was  now  the  head  both  of  the  religion  and  the  state. 
Little  probability  was  there  that  such  a  man  v^ouid  be  open  tc 
argument  or  persuasion,  even  from  the  lips  of  a  more  practised 
polemic  than  the  Spanish  commandei'.  Hov/  could  he  abjure 
the  faith  that  was  intertwined  with  the  dearest  affections  of  his 
heart,  and  the  very  elements  of  his  being  .''  How  could  he  be 
false  to  the  gods  who  had  raised  him  to  such  prosperity  and 
honors  and Vv'hose shrines  were  intrusted  to  his  especial  keeping? 

He  listened,  however,  with  silent  attention,  until  the  general 
had  concluded  his  homily.  He  then  replied,  that  he  knew  the 
Spaniards  had  held  this  discourse  wherever  they  had  been.  He 
doubted  not  their  God  v/as,  as  they  said,  a  good  being.  His 
gods,  also,  were  good  to  him.  Yet  what  his  visitor  said  of  the 
creation  of  the  world  was  like  v/hat  he  had  been  taught  to  be 
live.*^  It  was  not  worth  while  to  discourse  further  of  the  matter. 
His  ancestors,  he  said,  were  not  the  original  proprietors  of  the 
jand.  They  had  occupied  it  but  a  few  ages,  and  had  been  led 
there  by  a  great  Being,  who,  after  giving  them  laws    and  ruling 

^^-  The  ludicioas  effect — if  the  subject  be  not  too  grave  to  justify  the  ex- 
;j.-es3ion--Gf  a  literal  belief  in  the  doctriiie  of  Transubstaniiation  in  the 
mother  c  :!t:v,  even  at  this  dav,  is  well  illustrated  by  Blanco  White,  Letters 
from  Spam,  (l.ondon,  1822,^  let.  T. 

^'^  ''Y  en  e.-io  de  la  creacion  del  mnndo  assi  10  tenenios  nosotros  creido 
muchos  tiempos  iJassados."  (Berna!  Diaz,  1-Iist.  dc  la  ( "onquistn,  cap.  90.) 
For  some  points  of  resemlv'ance  between  tb  A  7;  c  and  Hebrew  traditions,  see 
Book  I,  Ch.  3,  and  Appenaix  Part  i,  of  thii  History. 


VISIT  TO   THE  EMJ'EROR. 


377 


over  the  naiion  for  a  time,  had  withdrawn  to  the  regions  where 
the  sun  rises.  He  had  dccUired,  on  his  departure,  that  he  or 
his  descendants  would  again  visit  them  and  resume  liis  empire.^ 
Tlie  wonderful  deeds  of  the  Spaniards,  their  fair  complexions, 
and  the  quarter  whence  they  came,  all  showed  thev  were  his 
descendants.  If  Montezuma  had  resisted  their  visit  to  his 
Capital,  it  was  because  he  had  heard  such  accounts  of  their  cruel- 
ties, —  ihat  they  sent  the  lightriing  to  consume  his  people  or 
cnishcd  them  to  pieces  under  the  hard  feet  of  the  ferociou:- 
auinials  on  which  they  rode.  He  was  now  convinced  that  these 
were  idle  tales  ;  that  the  Spaniards  were  kind  and  generous  in 
tiieir  natures  ;  they  were  mortals,  of  a  different  ra'-e,  indeed, 
from  the  Aztecs,  wiser,  and  more  valiant. — ;;nd  i  u'  this  Iv. 
honored  them. 

"  Vou,  too,"  he  added,  with  a  smile,  "  have  beei;  told,  per- 
haps, that  I  am  a  god,  and  dwell  in  palaces  of  gold  and  silver." 
But  you  see  it  is  false.  My  houses,  though  large,  are  of  stone 
and  v.'ood  like  those  of  otiiers  ;  and  as  to  my  bod}-,"  he  said, 
baring  his  tawny  arm,  "  you  see  it  is  flesh  and  bone  like  yours, 
It  is  true,  1  have  a  great  ensjure  inherited  from  my  ances- 
tors ;  lands,  and  gold,  and  sil\'er.  But  your  soverei_-n  beyond 
the  waters  is,  I  kiifi-.v,  the  rightful  lord  of  ail.  I  rule  in  his 
name.  You,  Malmciie,  are  his  ambassa(l'"M-  ;  you.  and  your 
brethren  shall  share  these  things  with  me.  l^est  now  '"rom  vour 
labors.  You  aie  here  in  j'our  own  dwellings,  and  everything 
shall  be  provided  for  your  subsistence.  T  will  see  that  your 
wishes  shall  be  Oi)L  yed  in  the  same  wa\  as  my  own."'"  As  the 
monarch  concluded  these  ^vords,  a  few  natural  icr.rs  suffused 
hi.->  e--i;s,  '.vf,:1e  the  imagf  of  ancient  independencp.  perhaps, 
flitted  across  hi,  mir.d.  ^ 

'•""^  "  \\  sicinjjrc  hc.r.os  tcr.Idi),  rjue  de  los  que  c!e  t'l  dcsccndic-scn  !;:iMu  de 
venir  a  sijju/gar  u.-^la  lierra,  y  a  iiosotros  coiiu)  a  sus  V^asallob. ''  Kcl.  Seg 
de  C'jrics  ap.  Lorer.zaiia,  p.  oi. 

Vj  "  y  juLgi;  Moiilejunia  dixo  ricndo,  pcirque  en  toda  era  x\\v,<  regoz-jada 
en  .Ml  liaL'lar  d<;  j^rp.r.  si.-fior  :  Ma'inche,  bien  se  (pie  te  han  d'ci;')  cssi.s  de 
Tla«^ca!a,  con  quicn  lan;.!  aniistau  aucis  toinauo  (juc  \o  ,ue  soy  :  ■■i\\\n  I-.-jb,  ;> 
HYnile,  que  riuaiito  a v  en  mi.-,  casai  es  todo  oro  e  !)iu:i,  y  'pi' .iras  ncas.* 
Bcrnal  D'az,  Jhid.,  tilji  siqira. 

"■  "  V.  pijr  taiito  V'j:;  ;-- d  c'i;-!  I",  f;ue  os  ol)L-dcC('i-'  iir  >-.  ;.  '^"eiiuiy  po( 
scri'ir  en  lugar  de  esse  gran  scn'.r,  que  f'.ci-is.  v  niu-  en  (.:'  ■  v"  '  '•:a  falta,  ni 
tncano  ;  alfuino  v.  \)x:\\  pi'rU'i-.  en  toda  la  t:>T):i,  'l:;,'o  oui-en  la  one  yri  (n  mi 
Senorio  po?en,  iiiandnr  a  vne'-lra  xdlunta.d.  p.-irrju'-  s^aa  •  I'ca  .  !  >  v  I'-clio,  ■v 
to(io  lo  fine  IV)  ■•tro-;  tc'w.nn.s  >.:■  ])a!ilo(p!c  \'os  ■i--(-l!o  (pn  ieredes  dis' 
poner."      Kel.  See.  d'-  ''mvic^,  nhi  siqnrn 

•*'^  Mar'vr.  I  )e  <n-!)e  No'.-i,  lioc.  '^,  cap.  ^,  — (".oniaoi,  <  ■ror''-;,  cap.  66--^ 
Oviedo.  lli-.!.  de  )a-:  Ind..  .^!.S.,  lil").  33,  o'.ai<.  5.--(;-n/a!"  iV  !as  ^'asAs, 
MS.,  I 'arte  I,  raj).   24. 

Corf-s,  in  In-,  bri'-f  notes    of  this  proceeding,  sjieaks   onlv  of  the    intcj'.icw 


31^ 


MARCH  TO  MEXICO. 


Cortes,  while  he  encouraged  the  idea  that  his  own  sovereign 
was  the  great  Being  indicated  by  Montezuma,  endeavored  to 
comfort  the  monarch  b}'  the  assurance  that  his  master  had  no 
desire  to  interfere  with  his  authority,  otherwise  than,  out  of  pure 
concern  for  his  welfare,  to  effect  his  conversion  and  that  of 
his  people  to  Christianity.  Before  the  emperor  dismissed  his 
visitors  he  consulted  his  munificent  spirit,  as  usual,  by  distribu- 
ting rich  stuffs  and  trinkets  of  gold  among  them,  so  that  the 
poorest  soldier,  says  Bernal  Diaz,  one  of  the  party,  received 
at  least  two  heavy  collars  of  the  precious  metal  for  his  share. 
The  iron  hearts  of  the  Spaniards  were  touched  with  the  emotion 
displayed  by  Montezuma,  as  well  as  by  his  princely  spirit  of 
liberality.  As  they  passed  him,  the  cavaliers,  with  bonnet  in 
hand,  made  him  the  most  profound  obeisance,  and  "  on  the  way 
home,"  continues  the  same  chronicler,  "  we  could  discourse  of 
nothing  but  the  gentle  breeding  and  courtesy  of  the  Indian  mon- 
arch, and  of  the  respect  we  entertained  for  him."  ^ 

Speculations  of  a  graver  complexion  must  have  pressed  on  the 
mind  of  the  general,  as  he  saw  around  him  the  evidences  of  a 
civilization,  and  consequently  power,  for  which  even  the  ex- 
aggerated reports  of  the  natives — discredited  from  their  ap-* 
parent  exaggeration — had  not  prepared  him.  In  the  pomp  and 
burdensome  ceremonial  of  the  court,  he  saw  that  nice  system  of 
subordination  and  profound  reverence  for  the  monarch  which 
characterize  the  semi-civilized  empires  of  Asia.  In  the  appear-' 
ance  of  the  capital,  its  massy,  yet  elegant  architecture,  its  luxu-- 
rious  social  accommodations,  its  activity  in  trade,  he  recognized 
the  proofs  of  the  intellectual  progress,  mechanical  skill,  and  en- 
larged resources  of  an  old  and  opulent  community  ;  while  the 
swarms  in  the  streets  attested  the  existence  of  a  population  capa- 
ble   of  turning  these  resources  to  the  best  account. 

In  the  Aztec  he  beheld  a  being  unlike  either  the  rude  re- 
publican Tlascalan,  or  the  effeminate  Cholulan  ;  but  combin- 
ing the  courage  of  the  one  with  the  cultivation  of  the  other.  He 
was  in  the  heart  of  a  great  capital,  which  seemed  like  an  ex- 
tensive fortification,  with  its  dikes  and  its  draw-bridges,  where 
every  house  might  be  easily  converted  into  a  castle.     Its  insular 

with  Montezuma  in  the  Spanish  quarters,  which  he  makes  the  scene  of  the 
preceding  dialogue. — Bernal  Uiaz  transfers  this  to  the  subse(|uent  meeting 
in  the  palace.  In  the  only  fact  of  importance,  the  dialogue  itself,  both  sub- 
stantially agree. 

•^  "  Assi  nos  despedi'mos  con  grandes  cortesi'as  del,  y  nos  fuymos  a  nues- 
tros  aposentos,  e  ibamos  platicancio  de  lahuena  manera  e  crian9a  que  en  todo 
tenia  e  que  nosotres  en  todo  le  tuuiessemos  mucho  acato,  e  con  las  gorras 
de  armas  colcbadas  quitarias,  quando  delante  del  passassemos."  Bernal 
Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  90. 


TTFRRERA. 


379 


position  removed  it  from  the  continent,  from  which,  at  the  mere 

ri"id  of  the  sovereign,  all  communication  might  be  cut  oflf,  and 
tiie  whole  warlike  population  be  at  once  precipitated  on  him  and 
his  handful  of  followers.  What  could  superior  science  avail  against 
such  odds  ?  ■" 

As  to  the  subversion  of  Montezuma's  empire,  now  that  he  had 
Seen  him  in  his  capital,  it  must  have  seemed  a  more  doubtful 
-eiv.erj'ri^c  than  ever.  The  recognition  which  the  Aztec  prince 
'^'■d  m"de  of  the  feudal  supremacy,  if  I  may  so  sav.  of  the  S]~.an- 
i-'i  sovereig'.-i,  was  not  to  be  taken  too  literally.  VVhatever  show 
'A  .ici'creacc  lie  might  be  disposed  to  pay  the  latter..  Uiider  the 
iriiiuence  of  liis  picscni — jjcriKip^s  temporary — delusion,  i:  was 
nc-L  \o  be  supposed  that  he  w.juii-l  so  easily  relin-qiiish  his  act- 
I'.al  power  and  possessions,  or  that  !:is  people  would  consent 
\>  it.  Indeed,  liis  sensitive  appreliensions  in  regard  to  this 
very  subiect,  on  the  coming  of  ihe  Spaniards,  weie  sufircient 
proof  of  the  tenaciry  with  which  he  clung  to  his  authoritv.  It 
i^  true  tfia;  Cortc>  had  a  strong  lever  for  fnture  opei'ations  in 
tiie  superstitious  I'cverence  fell  for  hims''ir  both  bv  prince  and 
reople.  Ir  \vas  imdoubtedly  his  poiicx  to  niaini;.in  this  senti- 
rnen.t  unimpaiied  in  both,  as  far  a.s  pc  -  ■il>le.''^  Bui.  before  set- 
tling anv  i'llan  of  operations,  it  was  iiece^san,'  to  make  himself 
p-jr.^o.iallv  acq. lain. cd  with  tlic  topog-.-ai::!">y  ;ind  Ic'  ai  advantages 
of  the  cai)ital.  iiie  ch.iracter  ot  i:s  i.('pulanrui,  and  the  real 
nature  and  amount  of  i;,s  res'-.'urces.  \A'ith  iiiis  v'ew,  he  asked 
lite  eiiipcr'-^r's  permission  to  x'isit  the  principal  public  t'dificcs. 

■  ■'  V  a--(."  srvs  ■l\.)rll  io  do  lltn.-ivenU-.  ''esfaba  tan  faertf  csta  jiudad, 
c'..;  '..-iieuia  11  >  ba.-iar  jioii.jr  'nurnai;!'  jiara  [..i' a:  la  ;  porcjue  advaias  de  su 
\  iLiv:'.  V  nian'.c'on  (jue  lenia,  era  vai.K'za  v  Sciiuri'a  dc  t'Kio  'a  ticrra,  y  t  i 
■■  ■  fi  ir  dc  t.la  (.\f  o'ci-.zuinai  gliii  iilbase  eii  .-u  ^iila  y  en  ia  fortaleza  de  so 
!     :  .aj.  V  eti  ia  mucncdumbre  dt  i^as  va:^.-;ar,ir-. "       ilist.  dt   ''is  indios,  ?>IS., 

'  ""Nt.inv  are  of  o'.'iiioti,''  snvb  j^'.irlier  A'.'o-;ta,  '■  thai  if  the  Spaniard.s  had 
ri'iitiDucd  the  course  thcv  began,  tiit-v  nii^iil  <.'a^-ily  have  di.sposed  of  !M(.>nlc- 
,'.  i.^.a  and  his  kiagdom.  and  iiitcodaccd  the  iaw  of  Christ,  with.uut  much 
.jr'odshed. "     Lib.  7,  cap.  25. 


Antonio  de  TTerr'jra,  t'l':  cei'd;rated  chronicler  of  the  Indies,  was  born  of  4 
respc'.t.ib'e  ir..ii  y  at  Cuclbi  in  OKI  S:-'.;n,  in  I5.}0.  .Afier  pa--.ing  throiigi.-^ 
the  us'ial  f.-nirbe  "f  ...  ..(i'nii':  di.-edjj!;:,.  in  his  owi;  .'inar',.  \\'-  went  to  lialv, 
to  -.vhicii  land  of  -.iri  andlc'tcrs  ii,'  '-'paniph,  voiiili  of  tliiit  time  frequentb. 
r-  '.rif-d  to  c'iinp''.-;t  tl.L'r  ((hi.-.j:-!!  .  \\-  t'>' -  •  'v-ana-  .ic'i'tainr^d  v.n'i 
Vespaiiau  Gonzaga,  brr.tlicr  'if  dn-  diik'  'if  Mant'ia,  an-.'  -entered  into  !ii- 
S*r<.ice.  He  continm  d  'Aidi  this  p'  'nee  af'''r  br  was  nindf  vicerriv  of  Navarre, 
a!;d.  uisso  hiildv  re_'.ard'-  !  !y  !:'';.  th.-;.  ^  n  hi-  rp- ,<h-bcd  G.  .n/.TLf,-  eari- 
.:'.:r';rcndod  i:i:a  to  the  protetdtm  ul  I'liilip  th>'  Se;"nd.       !  b  '  ->-;r'ra- 


380  HERRERA. 

ing  monarch  soon  discerned  the   excellent  qusrfines  of  Herrera  and  raised 

him  to  the  post  of  Historiographer  of  the  Indies, — an  office  for  which  Spair 
is  indebted  to  Philip.  Thus  provided  with  a  liberal  salary,  and  with  every 
faciliiy  for  pursuing  the  historical  researches  to  which  his  inclination  led 
him,  Herrera's  days  glided  peacefully  away  in  the  steady  but  silent,  occupa- 
tions of  a  man  of  letters.  He  continued  to  hold  the  office  of  historian  of  the 
colonies  through  Philip  the  Second's  reign,  and  under  his  successors,  Philip 
the  Third,  and  the  Fourth  ;  till  in  1625  he  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  seventy 
six,  leaving  behind  him  a  high  character  for  intellectual  and  moral  worth. 

Herrera  wrote  several  works,  chiefly  historical.  The  most  important,  that 
on  which  his  reputation  rests,  is  his  Historia  General  de  las  Indias  Occident 
tales.  It  extends  from  the  year  1492,  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  America, 
to  1554,  and  is  divided  into  eight  decades.  Four  of  them  were  published  in 
1601,  and  the  remaining  four  in  1615,  making  in  all  five  volumes  in  folio. 
The  work  was  subsequently  republished  in  1730,  and  has  been  translated  into 
most  of  the  languages  of  Europe.  The  English  translator,  Stevens,  has 
taken  great  liberties  with  his  original,  in  the  way  of  abridgment  and  omission 
but  the  execution  of  his  work  is  on  the  whole  superior  to  that  of  most  of  the 
old  English  versions  of  the  Castilian  chroniclers. 

Herrera's  vast  subject  embraces  the  whole  colonial  empire  of  Spain  in  the 
New  World.  The  work  is  thrown  into  the  form  of  annals,  and  the  multifar- 
ious occurrences  in  the  distant  regions  of  which  he  treats  are  all  marshalled 
with  exclusive  reference  to  their  chronology,  and  made  to  move  together/^:r; 
passu.  By  means  of  this  tasteless  arrangement  the  thread  of  interest  is  per- 
petually snapped,  the  reader  is  hurried  from  one  scene  to  another,  witliout 
the  opportunitv  of  completing  his  survey  of  any.  His  patience  is  exhausted 
and  his  mind  perplexed  with  partial  and  scattered  glimpses,  instead  of  gather- 
ing new  light  as  he  advances  from  the  skilful  development  of  a  continuous 
and  well  digested  narrative.  This  is  the  great  defect  of  a  plan  founded  on  a 
slavish  adherence  to  chronology.  The  defect  becomes  more  serious,  when 
the  work,  as  m  the  present  instance,  is  of  vast  compass  and  embraces  a  great 
variety  of  details,  having  little  relation  to  each  other.  In  such  a  work  we  feel 
the  superiority  of  a  plan  like  that  which  Robertson  has  pursued  in  his  "  His- 
tory of  America,"  where  every  subject  is  allowed  to  occupy  its  own  indepen- 
dent place,  proportioned  to  its  importance,  and  thus  to  make  a  distinct  and 
Individual  impression  on  the  reader. 

Herrera's  position  gave  him  access  to  the  official  returns  from  the  colonies, 
state-papers,  and  whatever  documents  existed  in  the  public  offices  for  the 
illustration  of  the  colonial  history.  Among  these  sources  of  information  were 
some  manuscripts,  with  which  it  is  now  not  easy  to  meet;  as,  for  example,  the 
memorial  of  Alonso  de  Ojeda,  one  of  the  followers  of  Cortes,  which  has 
eluded  my  researches  both  in  Spain  and  Mexico.  Other  writings,  as  those  of 
father  Sahagun,  of  much  importance  in  the  history  of  Indian  civilization- 
were  unknown  to  the  historian.  Of  such  manuscripts  as  fell  into  his  hatids, 
Herrera  made  the  freest  use.  From  the  writings  of  Las  Casas,  in  particular, 
he  borrowed  without  ceremony.  The  bishop  had  left  orders  that  his 
"  History  of  the  Indies  "  should  not  be  published  till  at  least  forty  years 
after  his  death.  Before  that  period  had  elapsed,  Herrera  had  entered  on  his 
labors,  and  as  he  had  access  to  the  papers  of  Las  Casas,  he  availed  himself 
of  it  to  transfer  whole  pages,  nay,  chapters,  of  his  narrative  in  the  most  un- 
scrupulous manner  to  his  own  work.  In  doing  this,  he  made  a  decided  im- 
provement on  the  manner  of  his  original,  reduced  his  cumbrous  and  en- 
tangled sentences  to  pure  Castilian,  omitted  his  turgid  declamatimi  and  his 
unreasonable  invectives.  But,  at  the  same  time,  he  also  excluded  tiic  pas- 
sages that  bore  hardest  on  the  conduct  of  his  countrymen,  and  ti:o.-,...  bursts 
of  indignant  eloquence,  which  showed  a  moral  sensibility  in  the  bishop  ot 


HERRBRA.  381 

Chiapathat  raised  him  so  far  above  his  age.  Bv  this  sort  of  metempsychosis, 
if  oiT"  mav  so  speak,  hv  which  the  lector  and  not  the  spirit  of  the  good 
missionary  was  transierred  to  lierrera's  pages,  he  rendered  tae  pubiication 
of  L,as  Casas"  iiistory,  in  some  measure,  superfluous;  and  tiiis  circumstance 
has,  no  doubt,  been  one  reason  for  its  having  been  so  long  detained  in 
manuscript. 

Yet,  with  every  allowance  for  the  errors  incident  t;>  rapid  composition,  and 
to  the  pedantic  chronological  system  pursued  by  fieriera,  his  work  must  be 
admitted  tu  iiave  extraordinary  merit.  It  displays  tu  the  reader  the  whole 
progress  of  S[)anish  coiufuest  and  coioniza:ion  in  tiie  New  World.,  far  the 
Orst  sixty  years  after  the  discoverv.  The  ■individual  actions  of  his  compli- 
cated story,  though  unskiitully  grouped  togelher,  are  unfoided  in  a  pure  and 
simple  styie,  we'd  suited  to  the  gravity  of  ids  subject.  It  at  first  siglit  he 
may  seem  rather  too  willing  to  m;.^nitv  tiie  ineriis  f)i  the  eai  ;\-  discoverers, 
and  to  throw  a  veil  over  their  excesses,  ii  may  be  jiai  ;loned,  ai  iiowir.g  not 
from  moral  insensibiiitv,  but  from  tiie  pr.triotic  sent'ment  v>:  ivT.  mad*  him 
desirous,  as  far  as  might  be.  to  wipe  awav  everv  stain  from  iise  escutclieon 
of  his  nation,  in  the  proud  period  of  her  renown.  It  is  naturiu  that  the 
Spani.ird,  who  dwells  on  this  periled,  should  bj  too  mucii  C.  //..\  c\  by  tiie  dis- 
play of  her  gigantic  efforts,  scrnjndouslv  to  weigh  t' eir  moi  iil  character,  or 
the  merits  of  the  cause  in  wiiich  tliev  were  m.-idle.  \'et  llerrera's  national 
partiality  never  makes  him  tne  apologist  of  crime;  r.;;d,  with  the  allowances 
fairly  to  be  conceded,  he  may  l)e  entitled  Ui  ine  ijr;i!>e  oo  cirteii  given  him  of 
integrity  and  candor. 

It  mr^t  not  be  forgotten,  that,  it;  additi  ■:.  t  ,  tp.c  narrative  of  t/.e  ear'y  dis- 
covei-"<  of  the  Span-ar''-.  Ilerrera  has  brought  t(ig''ti;er  a  va-t  (inanti'v  of 
information  in  respect  to  tiie  institutions  and  usages  of  the  Intlian  nations. 
coilecicii  from  the  most  autnentic  sources.  This  gives  iiis  woi  k  a  complete- 
ness, beyond  what  is  to  be  found  in  any  other  on  the  same  subject.  It  is, 
indeed,  a  noble  monument  of  sagacity  and  eruditinn:  and  tijc  'tudent  of  liis- 
tor)',  and  still  more  the  hisuincai  coinpiier.  wi'.l  t'lnd  hini-eit  una'  ;e  to 
advance  a  single  step  among  the  eariv  colonial  settlements  (■{  tiie  New  World 
witn.Mit  reference  to  the  ]iiges  of  Herrera, 

Another  writer  on  >Ie.\ic'.),  frequertiy  consulted  in  the  course  of  the 
present  narrative,  is  Toribio  de  ISenavente,  or  Ma;.\inia,  os  he  is  still  more 
trcfpiently  called,  from  his  Inciian  cognomen.  lie  was  one  of  the  twelve 
!*".  anciscan,  missiona.ries  wlio,  p.t  i.;e  request  ot  Cortes,  weie  s'^iit  out  to  New 
S;;iin  immediately  a.-t/r  w.'-  C  Tiqr.e.st.  in  1523.  Toribiis  .iiimble  attire, 
naked  feet,  and,  in  short,  tiie  poverty-striciicn  asiiect  wiiadi  Oeiongs  to  iiis 
order,  frequeniiy  (b-cw  irom  the  natives  tiie  exclamation  ot  Motein:i\.  r^r 
"poor  man."  It  '.\as  tiie  lirst  Aztec  word,  the  signification  of  whicii  (Su- 
niission:irv  learned,  and  he  was  so  much  picas -d  with  it,  as  intimating  Ins 
own  con'j  tion,  that  he  henceforth  assumed  it  as  ii;s  name.  Tor;!>io  eniiilo'.e;' 
h'.'ii-elf  zeal'iusly  with  his  brethren  in  tlie  great  oiiject  of  tlicir  inissu-n.  lie 
traveiied  on  foot  over  various  iiaitsof  Mexico.  Guatemala,  and  .Nicaia^nia. 
Wherever  he  went,  he  soared  O"  ;..i:::s  to  we, 01  tlie  r.ativts  iiom  their  ci.ulc 
i«lolatry,  and  to  j) our  into  tludr  rnnids  tiu:  ligiu  of  revelation.  He  showed 
even  a  tenfler  noard  for  their  t  'no  .rai  as  well  as  spirittial  wants,  and 
liernril  Diaz  testifu-o  that  ho  iias  :.i;.  .wn  him  to  give  awav  his  own  rube  to 
cloihe  a  destitute  ;  nd  suiT  ■rav-'-  le.hin.  \  <\  tii;^  charitable  friar,  so  meek 
and  conscientious  in  tiie  di-(!iaree  oi  i:;.-  (. '  iiristian  dii:  les,  was  one  of  the 
fiercest  opn.  ,iient^  of  I  ,as  <  hisas,  aiu!  sei,t  Iven.ea  i  en;,  justrance  against  the 
bishoij   of    (iieapa,   rouejci    in    teriii-^   lae    mo:4   oiMirobrious    and    sar<-astic. 


■,  <  ,as, 

is.  aiK 

ed    :n 

term 

s  bio.': 

V(;     ei 
.■'•■  rO 

jraoh.' 

)\-er  ef  j 
w,     Ira 

It  has  led  the  bistions's  biograoh'  r.  <  hnniana.  to  suiv'est  tiiat  the  friar's 
thre:iri|iaie  robe  in  v  liave  e.)\-erefi  soiii'-wiiat  of  worhliv  jride  and  envv. 
It   lua'.-    be    -,...       \ <.  ■    i'    n.e-.-  al-o    lead    us   to    distrust   the    (bherelion   ot    La« 


382 


HERKERA. 


Casas  himself,  who  could  carry  measures  with  so  rude  a  hand  as  to  provokfc 
•uch  unsparing  animadversions  from  his  fellow-laborers  in  the  vineyard. 

i'oribio  was  made  guardian  of  a  Franciscan  convent  at  I'ezcuco.  In  this 
situation  he  continued  active  in  good  works,  and,  at  this  place,  and  in  his 
different  pilgrimages,  is  stated  to  have  baptized  more  than  four  hundred 
thousand  natives.  His  efficacious  piety  was  attested  by  various  miracles. 
One  of  the  most  remarkable  was,  when  the  Indians  were  suffering  frc^m  great 
drought,  which  threatened  to  annihilate  the  approaching  harvests.  The 
good  father  recommended  a  solemn  procession  of  the  natives  to  the  church 
of  Santa  Cruz,  with  prayers  and  a  vigorous  tlageliation.  The  effect  was  soon 
visible  in  such  copious  rains  as  entirely  relieved  the  people  from  their  appre- 
hensions, and  in  the  end  made  the  season  uncommonly  fruitful.  The  coun- 
terpart to  this  prodigy  was  afforded  a  few  years  later,  while  the  country  was 
laboring  under  excessive  rains  ;  when,  by  a  similar  remedy,  the  evil  was 
checked,  and  a  like  propitious  influence  exerted  on  the  season  as  before. 
The  exhibition  of  such  miracles  greatly  edified  the  people,  says  his  biogra- 
pher, and  established  them  firmly  in  the  Faith.  Probably  Toribio's  exem- 
plary life  and  conversation,  so  beautifully  illustrating  the  principles  which  he 
taught,  did  quite  as  much  for  the  good  cause  as  his  miracles. 

Thus  passing  his  days  in  the  peaceful  and  pious  avocations  of  the  Chris- 
tian missionary,  the  worthy  ecclesiastic  was  at  length  called  from  the  scene  of 
his  earthly  pilgrimage,  in  what  year  is  uncertain,  but  at  an  advanced  age,  for 
he  survived  all  the  little  band  of  missionaries  who  had  accompanied  him  to 
New  Spain.  He  died  in  the  convent  of  San  Francisco  at  Mexico,  and  his 
panegyric  is  thus  emphatically  pronounced  by  Torquemada,  a  brother  of  his 
own  order  :  "  He  was  a  truly  apostolic  man,  a  great  teacher  of  Christianity. 
beautiful  in  the  ornament  of  every  virtue,  jealous  of  the  glory  of  God,  a 
friend  of  evangelical  poverty,  most  true  to  the  observance  of  his  monastic 
rule,  and  zealous  in  the  conversion  of  the  heathen." 

Father  Toribio's  long  personal  intercourse  with  the  Mexicans,  and  the 
knowledge  of  their  language,  which  he  was  at  much  pains  to  acquire,  opened 
to  him  all  the  sources  of  information  respecting  them  and  their  institutions, 
which  existed  at  the  time  of  the  Conquest.  The  results  he  carefully  digested 
in  the  work  so  often  cited  in  these  pages,  the  Historia  de  los  Indies  de  Aueva 
Espana,  making  a  volume  of  manuscript  in  folio.  It  is  divided  into  three 
parts.  I.  The  religion,  rites,  and  sacrifices  of  the  Aztecs.  2.  Their  conver- 
sion to  Christianity,  and  their  manner  of  celebrating  the  festivals  of  the 
Church.  3.  The  genius  and  character  of  the  nation,  their  chronology  and 
astrology,  together  with  notices  of  the  principal  cities  and  the  staple  productions 
of  the  country.  Notwithstanding  the  methodical  arrangement  of  the  work, 
it  is  written  in  the  rambling  unconnected  manner  of  a  common-place  book, 
into  which  the  author  has  thrown  at  random  his  notices  of  such  matters  as 
most  interested  him  in  his  survey  of  the  country.  His  own  mission  is  ever 
before  his  eyes,  and  the  immediate  topic  of  discussion,  of  whatever  nature  it 
may  be,  is  at  once  abandoned  to  exhibit  an  event  or  an  anecdote  that  can 
illustrate  his  ecclesiastical  labors.  The  most  startling  occurrences  are 
recorded  with  all  the  credulous  gravity  which  is  so  likely  to  win  credit  from 
the  vulgar  ;  and  a  stock  of  miracles  is  duly  attested  by  the  historian,  of  more 
than  sufficient  magnitude  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  infant  religious  com- 
munities of  New  Spain. 

Yet,  amidst  this  mass  of  pious  incredibiiia,  the  inquirer  into  the  Aztec  an- 
tiquities will  find  much  curious  and  substantial  information.  Toribio's  long 
and  intimate  relations  with  the  natives  put  him  in  possession  of  their  whole 
stock  of  theology  and  science  ;  and  as  liis  manner,  though  somewhat  discur- 
sive, is  plain  and  unaffected,  there  is  no  obscurity  in  the  communication  of 
his  ideas.     His  inferences,  cu.ored  by  the  superstitions  of  the  age,  and  th« 


rrERRERA. 


33.3 


peculiar  nature  of  his  profession,  may  be  often  received  with  distrust,  l^uf, 
as  his  integrity  and  his  means  of  infi>rmation  were  unquestionable,  his  work 
becomes  of  the  first  authority  in  relation  to  the  antiquities  ot  the  country, 
and  its  condition  at  the  period  of  the  Conquest.  As  an  educated  nuin,  he 
was  enabled  to  penetrate  deeper  than  the  illiterate  soldiers  of  Cortes,  men 
given  to  action  rather  than  to  speculation. — Yet  Toribio's  manuscript,  v.ilu- 
able  as  it  is  to  the  historian,  has  never  been  printed,  and  has  too  little  in  it 
of  popular  interest  probably,  ever  to  be  printed.  Much  that  it  contains  haa 
found  its  wav,  in  various  forms,  into  subsequent  compilations.  The  work 
itself  is  very  rarely  to  be  found.  Dr.  Robertson  had  a  copy,  as  it  seems 
from  the  catalogue  of  MSS.  published  with  his  "  History  of  America  "  ; 
though  the  author's  name  is  not  prefixed  to  it.  There  is  no  copy,  I  believe, 
in  the  library  of  the  Academy  of  History  at  Madrid  ;  and  for  that  in  my  pos- 
session I  am  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  that  curious  bibliographer,  Mr.  O. 
Rich,  now  consul  for  the  United  States  at  Minorca. 

Pietro  Martire  de  Angleria,  or  Petor  Martyr,  as  he  is  called  by  English 
writers,  belonged  to  an  ancient  and  highly  respecta!;le  family  of  Arona  in  the 
north  of  Italy.  In  14S7  he  was  induced  by  the  count  of  Tendilla,  the 
Spanish  ambassador  at  Rome,  to  return  with  him  to  Castile.  He  was  gra- 
ciously received  by  Queen  Isabella,  always  desirous  to  draw  around  her  en- 
lightened foreigners,  who  might  exercise  a  salutary  influence  on  the  rough 
and  warlike  nobility  of  Castile.  Martyr,  who  had  been  educated  for  the 
Church,  was  persuaded  by  the  queen  to  undertake  the  instruction  of  the 
young  nobles  at  the  court.  In  this  way  he  formed  an  intimacy  with  some  of 
the  most  illustrious  men  of  the  nation,  who  seem  to  have  cherished  a  warm 
personal  regard  for  him  through  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  was  em]iloyed 
by  the  Catholic  sovereigns  in  various  concerns  of  public  interest,  was  sent 
on  a,  mission  to  Egypt,  and  was  subsequently  raised  to  a  distinguished  post 
in  the  cathedral  of  Granada.  But  he  continued  to  pass  much  of  his  time  at 
court,  where  he  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  of 
their  successor,  Charles  the  l-'iith,  till  in  1525  he   died,  at  the  age  of  seventy. 

Martyr's  character  combined  qualities  not  often  found  in  the  same  indi- 
vidual,— an  ardent  love  of  letters,  with  a  practical  sagacity  that  can  only  re- 
sult from  familiarity  with  men  and  affairs.  Though  passing  his  days  in  the 
gav  and  dazzling  society  of  the  capital,  he  j^rescrved  the  simple  tastes  and 
dignified  temjicr  of  a  philosoj)her.  His  corresj)ondcnce,  as  well  as  his  more 
elaborate  writings,  if  the  term  elaborate  can  be  applied  to  any  of  his  writings, 
manifests  an  enlightened  and  oftentimes  independant  spirit  ;  though  one 
would  have  been  better  pleased,  had  he  been  sufficiently  independent  \o 
condemn  the  religious  intolerance  of  the  government.  But  Martyr,  though 
a  philosoi)her,  was  enough  of  a  courtier  to  look  with  a  lenient  eve  on  the 
errors  of  princes,  Though  deeply  imbued  with  the  learning  of  Anti(|uity, 
and  a  scholar  at  heart,  he  had  none  of  the  feelings  of  the  recluse,  but  took 
the  most  lively  interest  in  the  events  that  were  passing  around  him.  His 
various  writings,  including  his  copious  correspondence,  are  for  this  reason 
the  very  best  mirror  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived. 

His  inquisitive  mind  was  partieularlv  interested  by  the  dismveiics  that 
were  going  on  in  the  .Vew  World.  He  wa^  allowed  to  be  jiresent  at  the 
sitt'ngs  of  the  Cuuncil  of  the  Indies,  when  anv  (  nnimunication  of  importance 
wa^  :n;ir]e  to  it;  and  he  was  siibse'iiientlv  appointed  a  member  of  that  bodv. 
All  that  related  to  the  colonies  passed  through  his  hands.  The  c  onesjion- 
dence  of  Columbus,  C(jrtes,  ,uid  the  other  diseo\  rrers,  with  tlie  Court  ol 
Castile  was  submitted  to  iii-^  perusal.  lie  became  peisonallv  ac.  j  lee.n'.ed 
with  these  illu^tritius  peisoiir,,  on  their  reiurn  home,  and  freiiuenlh',  ;'..>  '.\  3 
find  from  hi  ^  o'.s  n  Icttei -,,  entert.iiiird  tlioni  at  hi.-,  own  table.  Withtiie^e 
advantage^i,  hi.->  testimony  becomes  Iju'  one   degree  removed  from  that  ol  .iit 


actors  tliemselves  in  the  great  drama.  In  one  respect  it  is  of  a  higher  kind, 
since  it  is  free  from  the  prejudice  and  passion,  which  a  personal  interest  in 
events  is  apt  to  beget.  The  testimony  of  Martyr  is  that  of  a  philosopher, 
taking  a  clear  and  comprehensive  survey  of  the  ground,  with  such  lights  oi 
previous  knowledge  to  guide  him,  as  none  of  the  actual  discoverers  and  con- 
querors could  pretend  to.  It  is  true,  this  does  not  prevent  his  occasionally 
falling  into  errors  ;  the  errors  of  credulity, — not,  however,  of  the  credulity 
founded  on  superstition,  but  that  which  arises  from  the  uncertain  nature  of 
the  suljject,  where  phenomena,  so  unlike  any  thing  with  which  he  had  been 
1/.  .iili  ir,  were  now  first  disclosed  by  the  revelation  of  an  unknown  world. 

^--  may  be  more  fairly  charged  with  inaccuracies  of  another  description, 
growing  out  of  haste  and  inadvertence  of  composition.  But  even  here  we 
should  be  charitable.  For  he  confesses  his  sins  with  a  candor  that  disarms 
criiicism.  In  truth,  he  wrote  rapidly,  and  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  as  oc- 
c:is!(.  a  served.  He  sliruuk  from  the  publication  of  his  writings,  when  it  was 
r.,-;:cd  on  him,  and  his  Decades  De  Orbe  A'oz'o,  in  which  he  embodied  the 
results  of  his  researches  in  respect  to  the  American  discoveries,  were  not 
published  entire  till  after  his  death.  1  iie  most  valuable  and  complete  edi- 
tion of  this  work — the  one  referred  to  in  the  present  pages — is  the  edition  ni 
liakluyt,  published  at  Paris,  in  15S7. 

Martyr's  works  are  all  in  I.atin.  and  that  not  the  purest:  ;  a  circumstance 
rather  singular, considering  his  familiaritv  with  the  classic  models  of  Antiquity. 
Yet  he  evidently  handled  the  dead  languages  with  the  same  facility  as  the 
living.  \\'hatever  defects  may  be  charged  on  his  manner,  in  the  selection 
and  management  of  his  topics  he  snows  the  superiority  of  his  genius.  He 
passes  over  the  trivial  details,  which  so  often  encumber  the  literal  )-!arratives 
of  the  Spanish  voyagers,  and  fixes  his  attention  on  the  great  results  of  their 
di.-xoveries, — the  products  of  the  country,  the  history  and  institutions  of  the 
races,  their  character  and  advance  in  civilization.  In  one  respect  his  writ- 
ings are  of  peculiar  value.  They  sh^ivv  the  state  of  feeling  which  existed  at 
the  Castilian  court  during  the  ]3rogress  of  discovery.  They  furnish,  in  short, 
the  reverse  side  of  the  picture;  and,  when  we  have  followed  the  Spanish 
conquerors  in  their  wonderful  career  of  adventure  in  the  New  World, 
we  have  only  to  turn  to  the  pages  of  Martvr  to  find  the  impression  producea 
by  them  on  the  enlightened  minds  of  the  Old.  Such  a  view  is  necessary  to 
the  completeness  of  the  historical  picture. 

If  the  reader  is  curious  to  learn  more  of  this  estimable  scholar,  he  will 
find  the  particulars  given  in  "  The  History  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella," 
(Part  I.  chap.  14,  postscript,  and  chap.  19,)  for  the  illustration  of  whose 
^eigu  his  voluminous  correspondence  furnish  the  most  authentic  material*. 


>OK     FOURTH 

PJKSIDEJNCE  IN  MEXlCiX 


BOOK  IV. 

RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 


CHAPTER  I. 

TiizcucAN  Lake. — -Description  of  the  Capital. — Palaces  and 
Museums. — Royal  Household. — Montezuma's  Way  of  Life, 

(15^9.) 

The  ancient  city  of  Mexico  covered  the  same  spot  occupiei 
by  the  modern  capital.  The  great  causeways  touched  it  in  tiio 
same  points,  the  streets  ran  m  much  the  same  direction,  nearly 
from  north  to  south  and  from  east  to  west;  the  cathedral  in  the 
plaza  mayor  stands  on  the  same  ground  that  was  covered  by  the 
temple  of  the  Aztec  war-god  ;  and  the  four  principal  quarters  of 
the  town  are  still  known  among  the  Indians  by  their  ancient 
names.  Yet  an  Aztec  of  the  days  of  Montezuma,  could  he  be 
hold  the  modern  metropolis,  which  has  risen  with  such  phcenix- 
like  splendor  from  the  ashes  of  the  old,  would  not  recognize  its 
site  as  that  of  his  own  Tenochtitlan.  For  the  latter  was  encom- 
passed by  the  salt  floods  of  Tezcuco,  which  flowed  in  ample 
canals  through  every  part  of  the  city  ;  while  the  Mexico  of  our 
dav  stands  high  and  dry  on  the  main  land,  nearly  a  league  dis- 
tant, at  its  centre,  from  the  water.  The  cause  of  this  apparent 
change  in  its  position  is  the  diminution  of  the  lake,  which,  froi^i 
the  rapidity  of  evaporation  in  these  elevated  regions,  had  b  ■ 
come  perceptible  before  the  Conquest,  but  which  has  since  bee-: 
greatly  accelerated  by  artificial  causes.^ 

The  average  level  of  the  Tezcucan  lake,  at  the  present  da\\ 
IS  but  four  feet  lower  than  the  great  square  of  Mexico.'-^     It  '  •; 

'  The  lake,  it  seems,  had  perceptibly  shrunk  before  ttie  Conquest,  from 
the  testimony  of  Motilinia,  who  entered  the  country  boon  after.  Toribio, 
Hist,  de  los  Indios,  MS.,  Parle  3,  cap.  6. 

*  Humboldt,  Essai  Politique,  torn.  II.  p.  95. 

Cortes  supposes  there  were  regular  tides  in  this  lake.  (Rel.  .Seg.,  ap 
Lorenzana.  p.  101.)  Th!s  sorely  ])uzzle.s  the  learned  Martyr;  (De  Orl>« 
Novo,  dec.  t,,  oap.  3  ;)  as  it  has  more  than  one  philosopher  since,  whom  it 
has   led  to  speculate    on  a  subterraneous  communicatii)n  wiiii    tlie  ocean i 


288  re:sidexce  ix  Mexico. 

considerably  lower  than  the  other  great  basins  of  water  which 

aie  found  in  ihe  Valley.  In  ihe  heavy  swell  sometimes  caused 
by  long  and  excessive  rains,  these  latter  reservoirs  anciently 
overflowed  into  the  Tezcuco,  which,  rising  with  the  accumulated 
volume  oL  waters,  burst  through  the  dikes,  and,  pouring  into  the 
streets  of  the  capital,  buried  the  lower  part  of  the  buildings 
under  a  deluge.  This  was  comparatively  a  light  evil,  when  the 
houses  suood  on  piles  so  elevated  that  boats  might  pass  under 
them  ;  when  the  streets  were  canals,  and  the  ordinary  mode  of 
communication  was  by  water.  But  it  became  more  disastrous, 
as  these  canals,  filled  up  with  the  rubbish  of  the  ruined  Indian 
cii;y,  were  supplanted  by  streets  of  solid  earth,  and  the  founda- 
tions of  the  capital  were  gradually  reclaimed  from  the  watery 
element.  To  obviate  this  alarming  evil,  the  famous  drain  of 
Huehuetoca  was  opened,  at  an  enormous  cost,  in  the  beginning 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  Mexico,  after  repealed  inunda- 
tions, has  been  at  length  placed  above  the  reach  of  the  flood.* 
But  what  was  gained  to  the  useful,  in  this  case,  as  in  some 
ethers,  has  been  purchased  at  the  expense  of  the  beautiful.  By 
this  shrinking  of  the  waters,  the  bright  towns  and  hamlets  once 
waslied  by  them  have  been  removed  some  miles  into  the  interior, 
while  a  barren  strip  of  land,  ghastly  from  the  incrustation  of 
salts  formed  on  the  surface,  has  taken  place  of  the  glowing 
vegetation  which  once  enamelled  the  borders  of  the  lake,  and 
of  the  dark  groves  of  oak,  cedar,  and  sycamore  which  threw 
tlieir  broad  shadows  over  its  bosom. 

The  chi?iamj>as,  that  archipelago  of  wandering  islands,  to 
^^^;c;^  our  attenilon  was  drawn  m  the  last  chapter,  have,  also, 
nearly  disappeared.  These  had  their  origin  m  the  detached 
masses  of  earth,  which,  loosening  from  the  shores,  were  stili 
held  together  by  the  fibrous  roots  with  which  they  were  p)ene- 
tiaied.  The  primitive  Aztecs,  m  their  poverty  of  land,  availed 
themselves  of  the  hint  thus  afforded  by  nature.  They  con- 
structed rafts  of  reeds,  rushes,  and  other  fibrous  niaterials, 
which,  tightly  knit  rogether,  formed  a  sufficient  basis  for  the 
fediment  that  they  drew  up  from  the  bottom  of  the  lake.  Grad- 
ually islands  were  formed,  two  or  three  hundred  feet  in  length, 
i;nd  three  or  four  feet  in  depth,  with  a  rich  stimulated  soil,  on 
■  ■  hich  the  economical  Indian  raised  his  vegetables  and  flowers 

■■.V--r>t  the  general  called  "tides,  "  was  probably  the  periodical  swells  caused 
V-  the  prevalence  of  certain  regular  wmds, 

'■  tlumboldt  has  given  a  minute  account  of  this  tunnel,  which  he  pro- 
nounces one  of  the  most  stupendous  hydrauhc  works  in  existence,  and  the 
completion  of  which,  in  its  present  form,  does  not  date  earlier  than  the  iattef 
>>art  of  the  ".HSt  century.     See  his  lissai  Politique,  torn.  II.  p.  lo^  er  secj. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  CAPITAL.  ^g* 

for  the  markets  of  Tenochtitlan.  Some  of  these  chinainpas  were 
even  firm  enough  to  allow  the  growth  of  small  trees,  and  to  sus« 
tain  a  hut  for  the  residence  of  the  person  that  had  charge  of  it, 
who  with  a  long  pole,  resting  on  the  sides  or  the  bottom  of  the 
shallow  basin,  could  change  the  position  of  his  little  territory  at 
pleasure,  which  with  its  rich  freight  of  vegetable  stores  wa» 
seen  moving  like  some  enchanted  island  over  the  water.* 

The  ancient  dikes  were  three  in  number.  That  of  Iztapala' 
pan,  by  which  the  Spaniards  enteied,  approaching  the  city  from 
the  south.  That  of  Tepejacac,  on  the  north,  which,  continuing 
the  principal  street,  might  be  regarded,  also,  as  a  continuation 
of  the  first  causeway.  Lastly,  the  dike  of  Tlacopan,  cormecting 
the  island-city  with  the  continent  on  the  west.  This  last  cause- 
way, memorable  for  the  disastrous  retreat  of  the  Spaniards,  was 
about  two  miles  in  length.  They  were  all  built  in  the  same 
substantial  manner,  of  hme  and  stone,  were  defended  by  draw- 
bridges, and  were  w  ide  enough  for  ten  or  twelve  I'n- 1  semen  to 
ride  abreast.^ 

The  rude  founders  of  Tenochtitlan  built  their  frail  tenements 
of  reeds  and  rushes  on  the  group  of  small  islands  in  the  v/esiem 
part  of  the  lake.  In  process  of  time,  these  were  supplanted  by 
more  substantial  buildings.  A  quarry  in  the  neighborhood,  of  a 
red  porous  amygdaloid,  tetzontl?,  was  opened,  and  a  light,  brittle 
stone  drawriif^iT)m  it  and  v/rought  with  little  difificulty.  Of  this 
their  edifices  were  constructed,  with  some  reference  to  architec- 
tural s()lidiiy,  if  not  elegance.  Mexico,  as  already  noticed,  was 
the  resider.ce  of  the  great  chiefs,  whom  the  sovereign  encour- 
aged, or  rather  compelled,  from  obvious  motives  of  policy,  to 
spend  part  of  the  year  in  the  capital.  It  was  also  the  temporary 
abode  of  the  great  lords  of  Tezcuco  and  Tlacopan,  who  shared, 
nominally,  at  last,  the  sovereignty  of  the  empire."  The  man- 
sions of  these  dignitaries,  and  of  the  piincipal  nobles,  were  en  a 
scale  of  rude  magnificence  correspondii-gwith  their  state.  They 
were  low,  indeed  ;  seldom  of  more  than  one  floor,  never  exceed- 
ing two.  But  they  spread  over  a  wide  extent  of  ground  ;  were 
arranged  in  a  quadrangular  form,  with  a  court  in  the  centre,  and 
were  surrounded  by  porticos  enVnellislied  with  porphyry  and  jas- 
per, easily  found  in  the  neiglibc^r.  (,.od,  while  not  uufrequently  a 

♦  Ibid.,  ton).  II.  p.  87,  et   beq. — Cl:ivj;;oro,  Stor.  del   Mcssico,  torn.    li.  p. 

'  53- 

"  Toribio,  Hist,  de  los  Indos.  MS.,  Parte  3,  cnp.  8. 

f^orld.s,  indei-d.  speaks  of  four  ransewavs,  (Rol.  Seg.,  ap.  L(  "cnzana.  p. 
102.)  He  )>,  I  ,  h.ive  reckoned  an  ;!rin  of  the  sonthern  one  leading  to  C'ojo- 
huacan,  i.r  p-i'  '-<'-A\-  the  great  aqutduct  01  CJiapoJtepec. 

*  An..,  Vo..  1.  |,.  V. 

yt  -.-r  vol.  I 


2^0  RESTDEN-CE  rA'  MEXICO. 

fountain  of  crystal  water  in  the  centre  shed  a  grateful  coolness 
over  the  atmosphere.  The  dwellings  of  the  common  people 
were  also  placed  on  foundations  of  stone,  which  rose  to  the 
height  of  a  few  feet,  and  were  then  succeeded  by  courses  of  un- 
baked bricks,  crossed  occasionally  by  wooden  raftersj  Most  of 
the  streets  were  mean  and  narrow.  Some  few,  however,  were  wide 
and  of  great  length.  The  principal  street,  conducting  from  the 
reat  southern  causeway,  penetrated  in  a  straight  line  the  whole 
ength  of  the  city,  and  afforded  a  noble  vista,  in  which  the  long 
lines  of  low  stone  edifices  were  broken  occasionally  by  interven- 
ing gardens,  rising  on  terraces,  and  displaying  all  the  pomp  of 
Aztec  horticulture. 

The  great  streets,  which  were  coated  with  a  hard  cement, 
were  intersected  by  numerous  canals.  Some  of  these  were 
flanked  by  a  solid  way,  which  served  as  afoot-walk  for  passen- 
gers, and  as  a  landing-place  where  boats  might  discharge  their 
cargoes.  Small  buildings  were  erected  at  intervals,  as  stations 
for  the  revenue  officers  who  collected  the  duties  on  different 
articles  of  merchandise.  The  canals  were  traversed  by  numer- 
ous bridges,  many  of  which  could  be  raised,  affording  the  means 
of  cutting  off  communication  between  different  parts  of  the  city.'' 

From  the  accounts  of  the  ancient  capital,  one  is  reminded  of 
those  aquatic  cities  in  the  Old  World,  the  positions  of  which 
have  been  selected  from  similar  motives  of  economy  and  de- 
fence ;  above  all,  of  Venice,* — if  it  be  not  rash  to  compare  the 
rude  architecture  of  the  American  Indian  with  the  marble 
palaces  and  temples — alas,  how  shorn  of  their  splendor  ! — which 
crowned  the  once  proud  mistress  of  the  Adriatic.^**   The  example 

'  Martyr  gives  a  particular  account  of  these  dwellings,  which  shows  that 
even  the  poorer  classes  were  comfortably  lodged.  ''  Populares  vero  domus 
dngulo  virili  tenus  lapideas  sunt  et  ipsae,  ob  lacunas  incrementum  per  fiuxum 
aut  f.uviorum  in  ea  labentium  alluvies.  Super  fundamentis  illis  magnis. 
lateribus  turn  coctis,  turn  aestivo  sole  siccatis,  immixtis  trabibus  reliquain 
molem  construunt;  uno  sunt  communes  domus  contentse  tabulate.  In  solo 
parum  hospitantur  propter  humiditatem,  tecta  non  tegulis  sed  bitumine  qu. - 
dam  terreo  vestiunt ;  ad  solem  captandum  commodior  est  ille  modus,  brevioi  '■ 
tempore  consumi  debere  credendum  est."     De  Orbe  Novo.  dec.  5,  cap.  10. 

8  Toribio,  Hist,  de  los  Indios,  MS.,  Parte  3,  cap.  8. — Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes, 
*p.  Lorenzana,  p.  loS. — Oviedo,  Hist,  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  t,t„  cap.  10,  n. 
— Rel.  d'un  gent.,  ap.  Ramusio,  torn.  HI.  fol.  309. 

^  Martyr  was  struck  with  the  resemblance.  "'  Uti  de  illustrissima  clvitate 
Venetiarum  legitur,  ad  tumulum  in  ea  sinus  Adriatici  parte  visum,  fuisse 
constructam."     Martyr,  De  Orbe  "Novo,  dec.  5,  cap.  10. 

1  May  we  not  apply,  without  much  violence,  to  the  Aztec  capital,  Gio- 
vanni della  Casa's  spirited  sonnet,  contrasting  the  origin  of  Venice  with  it» 
■aeridian  glory  ? 

"  Questi  Palazii  e  queste  logg:e  or  colta 
T)'ostro,  di  marmo  e  di  figure  elette. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  CAPITAL. 


39« 


of  the  metropolis  was  soon  followed  by  the  other  towns  in  the 

vicinity.  Instead  of  resting  their  foundations  on  terra firnta,  they 
were  seen  advancing  far  into  the  lake,  the  shallow  waters  of 
which  in  some  parts  do  not  exceed  four  feet  in  depth."  Thus 
an  easy  means  of  iniercommunication  was  opened,  and  the  sur- 
face of  this  inland  "  sea,"  as  Conds  styles  it,  was  darkened  bv 
thousands  of  canoes  " — an  Indian  term — industrious!-,-  engaged 
in  the  iratTic  between  these  little  communities.  How  gay  and 
picturesque  must  have  been  the  aspect  of  the  lake  in  those  days, 
with  its  shining  cities,  and  flowering  islets  rocking,  as  it  were, 
at  anchor  on  the  fair  bosom  of  its  waters  ! 

The  population  of  Tenochtitlan,  at  the  time  of  the  Conquest, 
is  variously  stated.  No  contemporary  writer  estimates  it  at  less 
than  sixty  thousand  houses,  which,  by  the  ordinary  rules  of 
reckoning,  would  give  three  hundred  thousand  souls.-'^  If  a 
dwelling  often  contained,  as  is  asserted,  several  families,  it  would 
swell  the  amount  considerably  higher. '^     Nothing  is  more  un- 

Fur  poche  e  basse  cise  iiisieme  accnltt, 

DeiL'rti  ':.i.\  o  pos'ure  Iso  cut. 
Ma  seriti  aulue  d'ogiii  vizio  scioite 

Premoarn  ii  iiiar  ci'n  picclo'e  barcbette, 

Che  qui  rcn  jier  domar  provincie  moit:;, 

M.i  fusgir  s  rvitus'  eran  nstrette. 

on  era  arabizion  ne'  petti  Icrc ; 

Ma'i  mentire  abborrian  pu'i  cbe  \^  tnorte, 

N4  vi  rcsjnava  irLjorda  lame  d'oro. 
Se'i  Cii.!  v'  ba  dato  piu  beata  scrte, 

Nou  biiii  qu-'..e  virtij  clie  fe.ito  onoro, 

Daile  i;uo\j  ricchezi-  upi  r;;^c  tuiorte.'' 

**  ''  Le  lac  de  'J'e.TCiico  n'a  generalemciit  que  trois  a  cinq  metres  de  prts 
foiideur.  Dans  que'  [ues  endroits  le  fond  so  trouve  nieinc  deja  ii  moins  d'un 
ri'ltrr."     liumboldt.  E.ssai  Poliriquc,  toi^.  II.  \>.  49. 

^^  '■  V  cada  dla  e-iiran  !:;ran  inuhitud  do  Indi^/s  carfados  de  Hiistiinentn.s  y 
tr'biU's,  ?.i'\  por  ticrra  como  por  apua,  en  acales  6  barca.s.  que  01  lengna  de 
/..-..  [:L::s  i! yuan  C::'io:!s."     Toriljio,  Ilist.  de  ios  Indios.  i'viS.,  Pane  3.  can.  6 

'^  "  Ivsta  la  cibdad  de  Meji'.'o  6  Ten^i'-.tttan,  que  s-cra  de  sescnta  mil  veci- 
'.'  '-."  (Carta  rle  T.ic.  Zuazn,  MS  1  "  Tenustitaiiain  ijisam  inquiunt  sexa- 
g'P.ta  cir  'tc?  cs-e  millium  ''-KiiTnim,"  ('\f-irtyr,  Dc  (>rbe  Novo,  dec.  5,  cap. 
3.!  *■  i'.ra  Mejico,  quanfio  Cortt's  eutrd,  pueblo  de  sesenta  mil  ca.sas."' 
<<^  'in.i  a,  Cronica,  cap.  7S. )  Toriiiic  Hav.";.  va^aelv.  "Los  m.-jradores  y 
gente  c. -a  innumerable.''  f.'ii.-i.  de  b>s  Ind^  ■>,  M  S.,  i'arte  3,  cap.  8.)  Tlic 
Tialian  tran.-,!at.:on  of  the '"  .'Xr.on^ -n'>;i-<  Coiupieror,"  \vl";  Kurvives  only  in 
translation,  ^avs.  i:ideed,  '•m"c;'!io  di  -.i->sanra  vs\\\'A.  hab:f,:fori'' ;  (  Rel.  d'uii 
ge;;'.,  ap.  l^aniusio,  toni.  HI,  fob  300:)  o\\';i;^,  probaii'v,  to  a  blunder  in 
renrierii"'  the  word  r^'-/?.'^!-,  the  m-fiip.irv  tprni  in  Siiani'^h  sta'i'-tics,  which, 
s:e:rify;i:^;  /imisf/ioh'rrs,  corre'Dotids  virb  t!ie  Italian  y/z^ic//;.  Sec,  also, 
C!  (vi^rera.  fStor.  di  !  Mcpsit  o,  tnm.  ill.  p.  86,  nota. ;  Kot)en.son  rests 
exclu,i-<rl?  I'H  tld.s  Ii  v\.\n  trans\it;on  for  liU  t -'i-u  it'-.  {History  of  America 
V',1,  II.  p.  2S1.)  He  ;  itcs,  indeed,  two  other  autliorities  on  tlia  .same  con- 
ri'-ct'  n  ;  Cfirtes,  who  savs  notliinc;  of  the  populaiinn,  and  Herrcra,  who  con- 
firms the  popular  statement  of  "  sesenta  mil  casas."  (Hist.  <  ienerai,  dec 
a,  lib.  7,  cap.  13.)     The  fact  is  of  some  importance. 

^^  "En  las  cabas,  p^^r  pcquen.i.s  ciiic  eran,  pocas  veces  de.xa  a:,  de   moraf 


392 


RESIDENCE  EV  MEXICO. 


certain  than  estimates  of  numbers  among  barbarous  communitie*, 

who  necessarily  live  in  a  more  confused  and  promiscuous 
manner  than  civilized,  and  among  whom  no  regular  system  is 
adopted  for  ascertaining  the  population.  The  concurrent 
testimony  of  the  Conquerors  ;  the  extent  of  the  city,  which  was 
said  to  be  nearly  three  leagues  in  circumference  ;  ^°  the  immense 
size  of  its  great  markei-place  ;  the  long  lines  of  edifices, 
vestiges  of  whose  ruins  may  still  be  found  in  the  suburbs,  miles 
from  the  modern  city  ;  ^^  the  fame  of  the  metropolis  throughout 
Anahuac,  which,  however,  could  boast  many  large  and  populous 
places  ;  lastly,  the  economical  husbandry  and  the  ingenious  con- 
trivances to  extract  aliment  from  the  most  unpromising  sources,^'' 
— all  attest  a  numerous  population,  far  beyond  that  of  the  pres- 
ent capital.  ^* 

A  careful  police  provided  for  the  health  and  cleanliness  of 
the  city.  A  thousand  persons  are  said  to  have  been  daily  em- 
ployed in  watering  and  sweeping  the  streets, -"^  so  that  a  man — 
to  borrow  the  language  of  an  old  Spaniard — "  could  walk 
through  them  with  as  little  danger  of  soiling  his  feet  as  his 
hands."  ^  The  water,  in  a  city  washed  on  all  sides  by  the  salt 
floods,  was  extremely  brackish.  A  liberal  supply  of  the  pure 
element,  however,  was  brought  from  Chapoltepec,  "  the  grass- 
hopper's hill,"  less  than  a  league  distant.  It  was  brought 
through  an  earthen  pipe,  along  a  dike  constructed  for  the  pur- 
pose. That  there  might  be  no  failure  in  so  essential  an  article, 
when  repairs  were  going  on,  a  double  course  of  pipes  was  laid. 
In  this  way  a  column  of  water  of  the   size  of  a  man's  body  was 

dos,  quatro,  y  seis  vecinos."     Herrera,  Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib,  7,  cap.  13. 

1^  Rel.  d'un  gent,  ap.  Ramusio,  torn.  III.  fol.  309. 

i6"C'estsur  le  chemin  qui  mene  a  Tanepantla  et  aux  Ahuahuetes  quo 
I'on  peutmarcher  plus  d'une  heure  entre  les  ruines  de  I'ancienne  villa.  On  y 
reconnait,  ainsi  que  sur  la  route  de  Tacuba  et  d'Iztapalapan,  combien  Me«ico 
rebiiti  par  Cortez,  est  plus  petit  que  I'etait  Tenochtitlan  sous  le  dernier  des 
Montezuma.  L'enorme  grandeur  du  marche  de  Tlatelolco,  dent  on  recon- 
nait encore  les  limites,  prouve  rombien  la  population  de  I'ancienne  ville  doit 
avoir  ete  considerable."     Humboldt,  Essai  Politique,  torn  II.  p.  43. 

^~  A  common  food  with  the  lower  classes  was  a  glutinous  scum  found  in 
the  lakes,  which,  they  made  into  a  sort  of  cake,  having  a  savor  not  unlike 
cheese.     (Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  92.) 

^'*  One  is  confirmed  in  this  inference  by  comparing  the  two  maps  at  the 
end  of  the  first  edition  of  Bullock's  "  Mexico  "  ;  one  of  the  modern  City,  the 
other  of  the  ancient,  taken  from  Boturini's  museum,  and  showing  its  regular 
arrangement  of  streets  and  canals  ;  as  regular,  indeed,  as  the  squares  on  a 
chessboard, 

1*  Clavigero,  Stor.  del  Messico,  torn.  I.  p.  274. 

**  "  Era  tan  barrido  y  el  suelo  tan  asentado  y  liso,  que  aunque  la  planta 
del  pie  fuera  tan  delicada  como  la  de  la  mano  no  recibiera  el  pie  detriments 
ninguno  en  andar  descalzo."  Toribio,  Hist,  de  los  Indies,  MS.,  Parte  3, 
cop.  7. 


PALACES  AND  MUSEUMS.  393 

conducted  into  the  heart  of  the  capital,  where  it  fed  the  foun- 
tains and  reservoirs  of  the  principal  mansions.  Openings  were 
made  in  the  aqueduct  as  it  crossed  the  bridges,  and  thus  a 
supply  was  furnished  to  the  canoes  below,  by  means  of  which  it 
^^•:;5  transported  to  all  parts  of  the  city.-^ 

While  Montezuma  encouraged  a  taste  for  architectural  magnif- 
i  :ence  in  his  nobles,  he  contributed  his  own  sliare  towards  the 
:;'nbell:slnneni  of  the  city.  It  was  in  his  reign  that  the  famous 
raiondar  stone,  weighing,  probably,  in  i's  primitive  state,  nearly 
'fv  tons,  was  transported  from  its  native  quarrj',  many  leagues 
fiiatant,  to  the  capital,  where  it  still  forms  one  of  the  most  curious 
'nonuments  of  x\ztec  science.  Indeed,  when  v.-e  reflect  on  the 
iii.'icultv  of  hewing  such  a  stupendous  mass  from  its  hard 
Ivisalti.c  bed  without  the  aid  of  iron  tools,  and  that  of  transport- 
in  i;  it  such  a  distance  across  land  and  water  without  the  help  of 
animals,  we  may  well  feel  admiration  at  the  mechanical  ingenuity 
and  enterprise  of  the  people  who  accomplished  it,''^ 

Not  content  with  the  spacious  residence  of  his  father,  Mon- 
tezuma erected  another  on  a  yet  more  magnificent  scale.  It 
occupied,  as  before  mentioned,  the  ground  partly  covered  by 
the  private  dwellings  on  one  side  of  the  plxza  mayor  of  the 
modern  city.  This  building,  or,  as  it  might  more  correctly  be 
sivlecl,  pile  of  buildings,  spread  o\er  an  extent  of  ground  so 
vast,  that,  as  one  of  the  Conquerors  assures  us,  its  terraced  roof 
might  have  afforded  ample  room  for  thirty  knights  to  run  their 
courses  in  a  regular  tom-ney,'''  1  have  already  n.oticed  its  mteiior 
decorations,  its  fanciful  draperies,  its  roofs  i.ilaid  with  cedar 
an::l  other  oc'oriferous  woods,  iield  together  without  a  tiail,  and, 
proha!)i\-,  without  a  knowledge  c-f  the  arch,"'*  its  numerous  and 
<;n-!ci''",i  apartm.ents,  which  Corte's,  with  enthusiastic  hyperbole, 
do-  s  not  iicsitate  10  declare  superior  to  anything  of  the  kind  in 
bpain,^ 

21  R(;l.  Sep,  de  Cortes,  au,  I.oren/aii'  X).  :o'-> — Carta  ('.cl  I.ii:.  Ziiazu.  aIS,, 
'— i\';l.  (!'  uii  L'eiu..  :ip.  l-lanuisio,  u,\\\.  Ill,  f';:.    ^09. 

"  'i'i-.e^e  iuuaen.^e  ina.rhcs,  .iccorc,;;  <,'  !'.  Marivr.  wlio  !_;:iihcrcci  hib  intorma 
tfo;-;  W'AV:  L".  c-wi;  nesses.  were  'r,ins|'()r!L(!  \>y  ineatTi  c!"  '•'■\-'^  ti'(  >  n'"  men,  who 
'■ira^g-ii  liicin  witn  ruijis  o.cr  hu'_;e  w  locicn  rollers.  iJJt  (J)ri)c  X'lvn,  liec.  5, 
Cip.  10.)  it  was;  tlie  iiiaiuv/i  111  whii-ii  tiio  l\ii\'i)tian>  rt  moved  1  Ivir  enormous 
block,-;  of  granite,  as  ai>pears  trom  r'liix-rous  r.  iIlI's  ,-i(:i!:o;Hrecl  ohthcr  build- 
ings. 

-'   R'-l,  d' un  g'cnt.,  ap.  Ramusio.  tom.  HI.  rol  309. 

^'  ■■  Ui<  ws  ctiiticios,"  savs  the  I.iceiUiaic  Zu:i/,o,  sipeakinp  of  the  buildings 
in  .Aiiahutc  j.'enerally,  *' eceplo  (jue  nn  sc  halln  algiino  con  bcnieda^''  (Carta, 
MS.)  'I'iiC  writer  niade  larjro  a:id  c::n\'ful  oliscrvatior.s,  the  year  after  the 
Co — lesi,  [lis  assertion,  if  it  i^e  rceei'.ed,  will  settiie  a  question  li.iich 
Iji  "it!.d  among  antiqiiai  ij^. 

'^   '   Tenia  dciitro  de   la  ciudad  su8  Casas  de  .'Xposentamiento,  tales   y  tan 


394 


RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 


Adjoining  the  principal  edifice  were  others  devoted  to  various 
objects.  One  was  an  armory,  filled  with  the  weapons  and  mili- 
tary dresses  worn  by  the  Aztecs,  all  kept  in  the  most  perfect 
order,  ready  for  instant  use.  The  emperor  was  himself  verv 
expert  in  the  management  of  the  maquahuitl,  or  Indian  sword, 
and  took  great  delight  in  witnessing  athletic  exercises,  and  the 
mimic  representation  of  war  by  his  young  nobility.  Anothei 
building  was  used  as  a  granary,  and  others  as  warehouses  for 
the  diiTerent  articles  of  food  and  apparel  contributed  by  the 
districts  charged  with  the  maintenance  of  the  royal  household. 

There  were,  also,  edifices  appropriated  to  objects  of  quite 
another  kind.  One  of  these  was  an  immense  aviary,  in  which 
birds  of  splendid  plumage  were  assembled  from  all  parts  of  th-. 
empire.  Here  was  the  scarlet  cardinal,  the  golden  pheasant, 
the  endless  parrot-tribe  with  their  rainbow  hues,  (the  royal  green 
predominant.)  and  that  miniature  miracle  of  nature,  the  hum- 
ming-bird, which  delights  to  revel  among  the  honeysuckle  bowers 
of  Mexico.^  Three  hundred  attendants  had  charge  of  this 
aviary,  who  made  themselves  acquainted  with  the  appropriate 
food  of  its  inmates,  oftentimes  procured  at  great  cost,  and  in  the 
moulting  season  were  careful  to  collect  the  beautiful  plumage, 
which,  with  its  many-colored  tints,  furnished  the  materials  for 
the  Aztec  painter. 

A  separate  building  was  reserved  for  the  fierce  birds  of  prey 
the  voracious  vulture-tribes  and  eagles  of  enormous  size,  whose 
home  was  in  the  snowy  solitudes  of  the  Andes.  No  less  than 
five  hundred  turkeys,  the  cheapest  meat  in  Mexico,  were 
allowed  for  the  daily  consumption  of  these  tyrants  of  the 
feathered  race. 

Adjoining  this  aviary  was  a  menagerie  of  wild  animals, 
gaihered  from  the  mountain  forests,  and  even  from  the  remote 
swamps  of  the  tierra  calicnie.  The  resemblance  of  the  different 
species  to  those  in  the  Old  World,  with  which  no  one  of  them, 
however,-   was    identical,  led   to  a  perpetual    confusion  in  the 

maravillosas,  que  me  pareceria  casi  imposible  poder  decir  la  bondad  v 
grandeza  de  ellas.  E  por  tanto,  no  me  porne  en  expresar  cosa  de  ellas,  mas 
de  (jue  en  Espana  no  hay  su  semejable."  Rel.  Seg.,  ap.  Lorenzana  p.  iii. 
*  Herrera's  account  of  these  feathered  insects,  if  one  may  so  style  them, 
shows  the  fanciful  errors  into  which  even  men  of  science  were  led  in  regard 
to  the  new  tribes  of  animals  discovered  in  America.  "  There  are  some  bird^ 
in  th.;  country  of  the  size  of  butterflies,  with  long  beaks,  brilliant  plumage, 
much  esteemed  for  the  curious  works  made  of  them.  Like  the  bees  thcv 
live  on  flowers,  and  the  dew  which  settles  on  them  ;  and  when  the  rainy 
season  is  over,  and  the  dry  weather  sets  in,  they  fasten  themselves  to  tl-.'j 
trees  by  their  beaks  and  soon  die.  But  in  the  following  year.  \\\\"a\  tlu. 
new  rains  come,  they  come  to  life  again  "  I  Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  ;ib.  lO, 
cap.  21. 


PALACES  AND  MUSEUMS. 


395 


nomenclature  of  the  Spaniards,  as  it  has  since  done  in  that  of 
better  instructed  naturalists.  The  collection  was  still  further 
swelled  by  a  great  number  of  reptiles  and  serpents  remarkable 
for  their  size  and  venomous  qualities,  among  which  the  Span- 
iards beheld  the  fiery  little  animal  "  with  the  castanets  in  his 
tail,"  the  terror  of  the  American  wilderness.^'  The  serpents  were 
confined  in  long  cages  lined  with  down  or  feathers,  or  ni 
troughs  of  mud  and  water.  The  beasts  and  birds  of  prey  wer- 
provided  with  apartments  large  enough  to  allow  of  their  moving 
about,  and  secured  by  a  strong  lattice-work,  through  which  light 
and  air  were  freely  admitted.  The  whole  was  placed  under  the 
charge  of  numerous  keepers,  who  acquainted  themselves  with 
the  habits  of  their  prisoners,  and  provided  for  their  comfort 
and  cleanliness.  With  what  deep  interest  would  the  enlightened 
naturalist  of  that  day — an  Oviedo,  or  a  Martyr,  for  example — 
have  surveyed  this  magnificent  collection,  in  which  the  various 
tribes  which  roamed  over  the  Western  wilderness,  the  unknown 
races  of  an  unknown  world,  were  brought  into  one  view  !  Hov 
would  they  have  delighted  to  study  the  peculiarities  of  thes( 
new  species,  compared  with  those  of  their  own  hemisphere,  anci 
thus  have  risen  to  some  comprehension  of  the  general  laws  b}- 
which  Nature  acts  in  all  her  works  !  The  rude  followers  of 
Cortes  did  not  trouble  themselves  with  such  refined  specula- 
tions. They  gazed  on  the  spectacle  with  a  vague  curiosity  not 
unmixed  with  awe  ;  and,  as  they  listened  to  the  wild  cries  of 
the  ferocious  animals  and  the  hissings  of  the  serpents,  they 
almost  fancied  themselves  in  the  infernal  regions.-* 

I  must  not  omit  to  notice  a  strange  collection  of  human 
monsters,  dwarfs,  and  other  unfortunate  persons,  in  whose 
organization  Nature  had  capriciously  deviated  from  her  reg- 
ular laws.  Such  hideous  anomalies  were  regarded  by  the 
Aztecs  as  a  suitable  appendage  of  state.  It  is  even  said,  the\ 
were  in  some  cases  the  result  of  artificial  means,  employed  b- 
unnatural  parents  desirous  to  secure  a  provision  for  their  ol' 
spring  by  thus  qualifying  them  for  a  place  in  the  royal  museum  !  -^ 

2^  "Pues  mas  tenian,"  says  the  honest  Captain  Diaz,  "en  a(]uella  mahlifi 
casa  niuchas  Viboras,  y  Culebras  emponconadas  (|ue  traen  en  las  cohis  viio-- 
Cjue  siKMian  <  omo  cascabeles  ;  estas  son  las  pcores  Viboras  de  lodas."  Mist, 
de  la  Conquista,  caj).  91. 

--•■Diganios  aora,"  exclaims  Captain  Diaz,  "las  cosas  mfernales  (|U3 
ha/ian,  ([uando  braniauan  los  Tigres  v  l.eones,  v  anllauan  h)s  Adiencs  1 
Zorros,  y  silbauan  las  Sierpes,  era  griina  oirlo,  y  parccia  infierno."  Ibul.. 
loc.  (.it. 

-■*  Ibid.,  ubi  supra.  — Rel.  .Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  I.orenzana,  pp.  III-113- 
Carta  del  I,ir.  Zuazo,  MS.— Toribio,  Hist,  de  los  Indios.  MS.,  I'arte  3, 
cap.  7.— Oviedo,  Hist,  de  la^  Ind.,  MS.,  lil).  },i,  cap.  Ii,  ^(^. 


f  q  6  KESIDEA  CE  IX  MEXICO. 

Extensive  gardens  were  spread  out  around  these  buildings, 
filled  with  fragrant  shrubs  and  flowers,  and  especially  with 
medicinal  plants.**  No  country  has  afforded  more  numerous 
species  of  these  last,  than  New  Spain ;  and  their  virtues  were 
perfectly  understood  by  the  Aztecs,  with  whom  medical  botany 
may  be  said  to  have  been  studied  as  a  science.  Amidst  this 
labyrinth  of  sweet-scenied  groves  and  shrubberies,  fountains  of 
pure  water  might  be  seen  throwing  up  their  sparkling  jets,  and 
scattering  refreshing  dews  over  the  blossoms.  Ten  large  tanks, 
well  stocked  with  fish,  afforded  a  retreat  on  their  margins  to 
various  tribes  of  water-fowl,  whose  habits  were  so  carefully  con- 
sulted, that  some  of  these  ponds  were  of  salt  water,  as  that  which 
they  most  loved  to  frequent.  A  tessellated  pavement  of  marble 
inclosed  the  ample  basins,  which  were  overhung  by  light  and 
fanciful  pavilions,  that  admitted  the  perfumed  breezes  of  the 
gardens,  and  offered  a  grateful  shelter  to  the  monarch  and  his 
mistresses  in  the  sultry  heats  of  summer. '-^ 

But  the  most  luxurious  residence  of  the  Aztec  monarch,  at 
that  season,  was  the  royal  hill  of  Chapoltepec,  a  spot  consecrated, 
moreover,  by  the  ashes  o\  his  ancestors.  It  stood  in  a  westerly 
direclion  from  the  capital,  and  its  base  was,  in  his  day,  washed 
by  the  waters  of  the  i  czcuco.  On  its  lofty  cre^t  of  porphyritic 
rock,  there  now  stands  the  magnificent,  though  desolate,  castle 
erected  by  the  young  viceroy  Galvez,  at  the  close  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  The  view  from  its  windows  is  one  of  the  finest 
in  the  environs  of  Mexico.  The  landscape  is  not  disfigured 
here,  as  in  many  other  quarters,  by  the  white  and  barren  natches, 
so  offensive  to  the  sight;  but  the  eye  w'anders  o\-c-r  an  unbroken 
expanse  of  meadows  and  cultivated  fields,  waving  with  rich 
harvests  of  European  grain.  Montezuma's  gardens  stretched 
for  miles  around  the  base  of  the  hill,  Tw'O  statues  of  that  mo;i- 
.liCii  and  his  facher,  cut  in  has  relief  \\\  the  porphyry,  were  spared 
/''  M;;^  iniddle  of  the  last  century;  ■^-  and  the  grounds  are  still 
•j'ia'.:eo  l,;y  gigantic   cypresses,  more  than  fifty  feet  in  circum.fer- 

'■"'  A''-"itc/iima,  according  to  Goniara,  would  allow  no  fruit-trees,  considcr- 
•,.-j,  ti  Ml  as  unsaitable  to  pleasure-grounds.  [Cronica,  cap.  75.]  Toribio 
^  ivs,  !  the  same  effect,  "Los  Indios  Senores  no  procuran  arbt.j;es  de  fruta, 
;v'i!-nt  •  se  la  traen  sus  vasallos,  sinoarboles  de  floresta,  de  donde  cujan  rosas, 
■■  'vie  de  '^e  crian  aves,  asi  para  gozar  del  canto,  como  para  las  tirar  con 
'.;•  •L',.- itia.  d'-  la  cual  son  grandes  tiradoves."  Tlist.  de  los  Indio.=  ,  MS., 
liiir-   \  cap.  6. 

•''  'i'vl.,  loc.  cit. — Rel,  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ubi  supra. — Oviedo,  Hiat.  de  las 
I:,  ',,  MS.,  lib.  33,  cap.  II. 

'■'^  Gama,  a  coiniietent  critic.  \v!in  saw  liiem  just  before  their  destruction. 
praises  their  execution.  Gania,  IJescripcion,  Parte  2,  pp.  Si-Sj. — Also. 
Ante,  Vol.  I.  p.  113. 


ROYAL  HOUSEHOLD. 


397 


ence,  which  were  centuries  old  at  the  time  of  the  Conquest. 
The  place  is  now  a  tangled  wilderness  of  wild  shrubs  where  the 
myrtle  mingles  its  dark,  glossy  leaves  with  the  red  berries  and 
delicate  foliage  of  the  pepper-tree.  Surely,  there  is  no  spot 
better  suited  to  awaken  meditation  on  the  past ;  none,  where  the 
traveller,  as  he  sits  under  those  stately  cypresses  gray  with  the 
moss  of  ages,  can  so  fitly  ponder  on  the  sad  destinies  of  the 
Indian  races  and  the  monarch  who  once  held  his  courtly  revels 
under  the  sliadow  of  their  branches. 

The  domestic  establishment  of  Montezuma  was  on  the  same 
scale  of  barbaric  splendor  as  everything  else  about  him.  He 
could  boast  as  many  wives  as  arc  found  in  the  harem  of  an 
Eastern  sultan.^^  They  were  lodged  in  their  own  apart- 
ments,  and  provided  with  every  accommodation,  according  to 
their  ideas,  for  personal  comfort  and  cleanliness.  They  passed 
their  hours  in  the  usual  feminine  employments  of  weaving  and 
embroidery,  especially  in  the  graceful  feather-work,  for  which 
such  rich  materials  were  furnished  by  the  royal  aviaries.  They 
conducted  themselves  with  strict  decorum,  under  the  supervision 
of  certain  aged  females,  who  acted  in  the  respectable  capacity 
of  duennas,  in  the  same  manner  as  in  the  religious  houses  at- 
tached to  the  teocalHs.  The  palace  was  supplied  with  numerous 
baths,  and  Montezuma  set  the  example,  in  his  own  person,  of 
frequent  ablutions.  He  bathed  at  least  once,  and  changed  his 
dress  four  times,  it  is  said,  every  day.*^  He  never  put  on  the 
same  apparel  a  second  time,  but  gave  it  away  to  his  attendants. 
Queen  Elizabeth,  with  a  similar  taste  for  costume,  showed  a  less 
princely  spirit  in  hoarding  her  discarded  suits.  Her  wardrobe 
was,  probably,  somewhat  more  costly  than  that  of  the  Indian 
empeior 

Besides  his  numerous  female  retinue,  the  halls  and  ante- 
chambers were  filled  with  nobles  in  constant  attendance  on  his 
person,  who  served  also  as  a  sort  of  body-guard.  It  had  been 
usual  for  plebeians  of  merit  to  fill  certain  offices  in  the  palace. 
But  the  haughty  Montezuma  refused  to  be  waited  upon  by  any 
but  men  of  noble  birth.  They  were  not  unfrequently  the  sons 
of  the  great  chiefs,  And  remained  as  hostages  in  the  absence  of 
their  fathers  ;  thus  serving  the  double  purpose  of  security  and 
state.86 

■''■''  No  less  than  one  thousaiid,  if  we  believe  Gomara;  who  acids  tlie  edify- 
ing inteHigence,  ''(|ue  huvo  vez,  que   tiivo  ciento  i  cinciicnta   prenadas  \  un 

tieiii|Ki !  '' 

■'  ■■  Vrstiasc  todos  los  dias  ruiatro  mancras  de  vcHlidiiras  todas  mievas,  y 
nuh'  .1  ina     -I    !,is  vestia  oua  vc/.."'      Rul.  Sc^.  dc  C'orlr  ^.  ap  I  ,>iH'ii/aii,i,  p^  i  i  (. 

'■■■    licriui;   I;^a/.,   ilisl.    dc    la  ( J')ii(p:i;-,ta,    ;  .ij).    yi .--(  .cinai  a,  :   ,o'.i;   ,■ ,  ■,  ,!j). 


jgg  RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 

His  meals  the  emperor  took  alone.  The  well-matted  floor  ot 
a  large  saloon  was  covered  with  hundreds  of  dishes.*^  Some- 
times 'Montezuma  himself,  but  more  frequently  his  steward,  in- 
dicated those  which  he  preferred,  and  which  were  kept  hot  by 
m.eans  of  chafing-dishes.^.  The  royal  bill  of  fare  comjjrehended, 
besides  domestic  animals,  game  from  the  distant  forests,  and 
fish  wiiich,  ihe  day  before,  was  swimming  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ! 
They  were  dressed  in  manifold  ways,  for  the  Aztec  artists,  as 
we  have  already  had  occasion  to  notice,  had  penetrated  deep 
into  the  mysteries  of  culinary  science.^ 

The  meats  were  served  by  the  attendant  nobles,  who  then 
resigned  the  office  of  waiiing  on  the  monarcli  to  maidens  se- 
lected for  their  personal  grace  and  beauty.  A  screen  of  richly 
gilt  and  carved  wood  was  drawn  around  him,  so  as  to  conceal 
him  from  vulgar  eyes  during  the  repast.  He  was  seated  on  a 
cushion,  and  the  dinner  was  served  on  a  lovv'  table  covered  with 
a  delicate  cotton  cloth.  The  dishes  were  of  the  finest  ware  of 
Cholula.  He  had  a  service  of  gold,  which  was  reserved  for  re- 
ligious celebrations.  Indeed,  it  would  scarcely  have  comported 
with  even  his  princely  revenues  to  have  used  it  on  ordinar}"  oc- 
casions, when  his  table  equipage  was  not  allowed  fo  appear  a 
second  time,  but  was  given  away  to  his  attendants.  The  saloon 
was  lighted  by  torches  made  of  a  resinous  wood,  which  sent  forth 
a  sweet  odor  and,  probabl}-,  not  a  little  smoke,  as  they  burned. 
Ai  his  meal,  he  was  attended  by  five  or  six  of  his  ancient  counsel- 
lors, who  stood   at  a  respectful   distance,  answering   his  ques- 

67.  71,  76.  — Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana,  pp.  113,  114.  Toribio, 
\\\>x.  de  los  Indios.  MS.,  Parte  3,  cap.  7. 

■'  A  la  puerta  de  la  sala  estaba  vn  pat;u  niui  grar.de  en  que  habia  cien 
apo.sento.s  de  25  6  30  pies  de  largo  cada  vno  sobre  si  en  torr.o  dc  dicho  patio, 
e  aili  estaban  lo'.s  Seiiores  principale.s  aposentados  como  guardas  del  palacio 
ordinarias,  y  e.stos  tales  aposentos  se  lianiangalrone?,  los  cjuales  a  lacortina 
ocupan  mas  de  600  hombres,  que  jamas  se  ciuitanan  de  alli.  e  cada  vno  de 
aquel'o;;  tenian  mas  de  30  ser'.idures.  de  nian^.a  que  a  lo  menos  nimca 
(.■s.ltaban  3000  hombres  de  ;,i!erra  en  esta  {jiiarda  cc'tediana  ciel  paiacio. '' 
{>' )viedo,  "llist.  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  ^tZ^  cap.  46.)  A  very  cnriwis  and  full 
acr  ,unt  of  Montezuma's  hou.^eliold  is  given  by  tiiis  author,  as  i^e  gatliered  it 
from  the  Spaniards  who  saw  it  in  its  splendor.  As  OviedoV  history  still 
remains  in  maraiscript,  I  have  transferred  the  chapter  in  the  original  Castilian 
to  Appendix^  Part  2  No.  10. 

*'  liernal  I)iaz,  Ibid.,  loc.  cit. — Rel.  Seg.  de  Coites,  ul>i  supra. 

'-'  "  Y  purque  la  Tierra  es  fria,  trahian  deba.Ko  de  cada  plato  y  escudilla 
de  manjar  un  braserico  con  brasa,  porque  no  se  enfriasse."  Rel.  Seg.  de 
(.>;r:e-,  ap.  Lorenzana,  p.   113. 

'  ■  liernal  I.);;;/,  lias  given  us  a  few  items  of  the  royal  carte.  The  first  cover 
is  rather  a  startling  one,  being  a  fricassee  or  stew  of  little  children  !  '•'•  carn<s 
de  mtichachas  de  foca  edad."  He  admits^  however,  that  this  i^  somewhat 
Upocryphal.      Ibid.,  iib-i  Ejpva. 


MONTEZUMA'S  WAY  OF  LIFR. 


399 


tions,  and  occasionally  rejoiced  by  some  of  the  viands  with  which 
he  complimented  them  from  his  table. 

This  course  of  solid  dishes  was  succeeded  by  another  of 
sweetmeats  and  pastry,  for  which  the  Aztec  cooks,  provided 
with  the  important  requisites  of  maize-flour,  eggs,  and  the  rich 
sugar  of  the  aloe,  were  famous.  Two  girls  were  occupied  at 
the  further  end  of  the  apartment,  during  dinner,  in  preparing 
fine  rolls  and  wafers,  with  which  they  garnished  the  board  from 
time  to  time.  The  emperor  took  no  other  beverage  than  the 
choiolatl,  a  potation  of  chocolate,  tiavored  with  vanilla  and  other 
spices,  and  so  prepared  as  to  be  reduced  to  a  frorh  of  the  con- 
sistency of  honey,  which  gradually  dissolved  in  the  mouth.  This 
beverage,  if  so  it  could  be  called,  was  served  in  golden  goblets, 
with  spoons  of  the  same  metal  or  of  tortoise-shell  finely  wrought. 
The  emperor  was  exceedingly  fond  of  it,  to  judge  from  the 
quantity, — no  less  than  fifty  jars  or  pitchers  being  prepared  for 
his  own  daily  consumption.^®  Two  thousand  more  were  allowed 
for  that  of  his  household.*^ 

The  general  arrangement  of  the  meal  seems  to  have  been  not 
very  unlike  that  of  Europeans.  But  no  prince  in  Europe  could 
boast  a  dessert  which  could  compare  with  that  of  the  Aztic 
emperor.  For  it  was  gathered  fresh  from  the  most  opposite 
climes  ;  and  his  board  displayed  the  products  of  his  own  tem- 
perate region,  and  the  luscious  fruits  of  he  tropics,  plucked,  the 
day  previous,  from  the  green  groves  of  the  tierra  caliente^  and 
transmitted  with  the  speed  of  steam,  by  means  of  couriers,  to 
the  capital.  It  was  as  if  some  kind  fairy  should  crown  our 
banquets  with  the  spicy  products  that  but  yesterday  were  grow- 
ing in  a  sunny  isle  of  the  far-off  Indian  seas  ! 

After  the  royal  appetite  was  appeased,  water  was  handed  to 
him  by  the  female  attendants,  in  a  silver  basin,  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  had  been  done  before  commencing  his  meal !  for  the 
Aztecs  were  as  constant  in  their  ablutions,  at  these  times,  as  any 
nation  of  the  East.  Pipes  were  then  brought,  made  of  a  varnished 
and  richly  gilt  wood,  from  which  he  inhaled,  sometimes  through 
the  nose,  at  others  though  the  mouth,  the  fumes  of  an  intoxicat- 
ing weed,  •' called /<7^«<rr6',"  "   mingled  with  liquid-amber.     While 

'■^^  ^^  Lo  qut  yo  v{"  sdiys  Diaz,  speaking  from  his  own  observation,  "que 
traian  sobre  cincuenta  jarros  grandes  hechos  de  buen  cacao  con  su  espuma, 
y  de  lo  que  bebia."     Ibid.,  cap.  91. 

**  Ibici.,  ubi  supra. — Rel.  Seg.  de  Cort(5s,  ap.  Lorenzana,  pp.  113,  114. — 
Oviedo,  Hist,  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  33,  cap.  11.  46. — Coinara,  Cronica,  cap. 
67. 

*'  "  Tambien  le  i)onian  en  la  mesa  tres  cafiutos  nuiy  jjintados,  y  dorados,  y 
dentro  traian  li(|ui(iambar,  rcbuelto  con  vnas  vcrvas  que  se  dizf  ^ibuco'' 
Benial  Diaz,  Hist,  cie  la  Couquista,  cap.  Qi. 


4-00 


RESIDENCE  J-V  .VEX/CO. 


this  soothing  process  of  fumigation  was  going  on,  the  emperor 

crjjoyed  the  exhibitions  or  his  mountebanks  and  jugglers,  of 
whom  a  regular  corps  was  attached  to  the  palace.  No  people, 
not  even  those  of  China  or  Hindostan,  surpassed  the  Aztecs  in 
feats  of  agiiity  and  ledgerdemain.*^ 

Sometimes  he  amused  himself  with  his  jester;  for  the  Indian 
monarch  had  his  jesters,  as  well  as  his  more  refined  brethren 
of  Europe,  at  that  day.  Indeed,  he  used  to  say,  that  more  in- 
struction was  to  be  gathered  from  them  than  from  wiser  men,  for 
they  dared  to  tell  the  truth.  At  other  times,  he  witnessed  the 
graceful  dances  of  his  women,  or  took  delight  in  listening  to 
music, — if  the  rude  minstrelsy  of  the  Mexicans  deserve  that 
name, — accompanied  by  a  chant,  in  slow  and  solemn  cadence, 
celebratir.g  liio  heroic  deeds  of  great  Aztic  warriors,  or  of  his 
own  prinrely  line. 

When  he  had  siifficienily  reireshed  his  spirits  with  these  diver- 
sions,  lie  composed  himself  to  sleep,  for  in  his  sii'sta  he  was  as 
regular  as  a  Spaniard.  On  awaking,  he  gave  audience  to  am- 
bassadors from  foreign  states,  or  his  own  tributary  cities,  or  to 
such  caciques  as  had  suits  to  prefer  to  him.  They  were  intro- 
duced by  the  young  nobles  in  attendance,  and,  whatever  might 
be  their  rank,  unless  of  the  bI:,od  ro}  ul,  they  were  ...biiged  to 
Submit  to  the  humiliation  of  shrouding  their  rich  dresses  under 
the  coarse  mantel  cl  lucjuen,  and  entering  barefooted,  with  down- 
cast eyes  into  his  presence.  The  emperor  addressed  few  and 
brief  remarks  to  the  suitors,  answering  them  generally  by  his 
secretaries ;  and  the  parties  retired  with  the  same  reveren- 
tial obeisance,  taking  care  to  keep  their  faces  turned  towards 
the  monarcli.  Weil  might  Cortes  exclaim,  that  no  court  whether 
of  the  Grand  Seignior  or  any  other  inlidel  ever  displayed  so  pom- 
pous and  elaborate  a  ceremonial!*^ 

Besides  the  crov/d  of  retainers  already  noticed,  the  royal 
houseiioicl  was  not  complete  v/ithout  a  host  of  artisans  constantly 
employed  m  the  erection  or  repair  of  buildings,  besides  a  great 
number  of  jewellers  and  persons  skilled  in  working  nietals,  who 
found  abundant  demand  for  their  trinkets  among  the  uark-eyed 
beauties  of  me  harem.  The  imperial  mummers  ai^.d  jugglers 
were    also    very   numerous,    and  the    dancers   belongir.g   to    the 

*^  'the  feats  of  jugglers  and  tumblers  were  a  favorite  diversion  with  the 
(jrand  Khan  of  China,  as  Sir  John  .M:.:nidevilic  informs  us.  (Voiare  and 
Travaiile,  chap.  22.)  The  Aztec  mountebanks  had  such  repute,  that  Cortes 
send  two  of  them  to  Rome  to  amuse  his  Holiness,  Clement  VII.  Clavicero, 
Stor.  dei  .Messico,  torn.    II.  p.  1S6. 

*<*  "  Ningiino  de  los  .Soldane?.  ni  otro  ningun  senor  infiel,  de  lo=  cnv  h?-;ta 
agora  se  tiene  noticia,  no  creo,  (;ue  tantas,  ni  tales  ceremonias  en  ser' icip 
tengan."     Ktl.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana,  p.  lis. 


MOA'TEZC.VA'S  WAY  OF  LIFE. 


401 


palace  occupied  a  particular  district  of  the   city,  appropriated 

e.\i'ii;s:velv  to  them. 

i'jie  niaiiutjnance  of  this  little  host,  amounting  to  some  thou- 
sands of  individuals,  involved  a  heavy  expenditure,  requiring 
accounts  of  a  complicated,  and,  to  a  simple  people,  ii  might  v.ell 
be,  embarrassing  nature.  Everything,  however  was  conducted 
v.iih  perfect  order;  and  all  the  various  receipts  and  disburse- 
ments were  set  down  in  the  picture  writing  of  the  country.  The 
aritlimetical  characters  were  of  a  more  refined  and  conventional 
sort  than  those  for  narrative  purposes;  and  a  separate  apart- 
ment was  tilled  with  hieroglyphical  ledgers,  exhibiting  a  com- 
plete view  ot  the  econom\  oi  the  palace.  The  care  of  all  this 
was  intrusted  to  a  treasurer,  who  acted  as  a  sort  of  major-domo 
ill  the  houseliold,  having  a  general  suuerintendence  over  all  its 
concerns.  This  responsible  otiice,  on  the  arrival  of  the  Span- 
iards, was  in  the  hands  of  a  trusty  cacique  named  Tapia." 

Such  is  xhc  picture  of  Montezuma's  domestic  establishment 
and  way  of  living,  a^  delineated  by  iho  C'cnquerors  and  their 
immediate  followers,  who  had  the  best  i\;eans  of  information  ;  ^ 
too  highly  colored,  it  may  be,  by  the  pci'eness  to  exaggerate* 
which  was  natiiial  to  those  uho  first  wiinesscd  a  spectacle  so 
striking  to  the  iniaginaticn,  so  new  and  uiiexpected.  I  have 
tliought  it  best  to  present  the  full  details,  trivial  though  they 
ma\-  seem  to  the  reader,  as  affording  a  curious  picture  of  man- 
nors,  so  suj)cri()r  in  point  of  refinement  to  those  of  the  other 
Aboriginal  tribes  on  the  North  American  continent.  Nor  are 
tiiey,  in  fact,  so  trivial,  when  we  reflect,  that,  in  these  details  of 
private  liie,  we  possess  a  surer  measure  of  civilization,  than  in 
tlio'se  of  a  public  nature. 

In  snrveying  them  we  are  strongly  reminded  of  the  civilization 
of  the  i''asi  ;  not  of  that  higher  intellectual  kind  which  belonged 
io  the  more  polished  Arabs  and  the  Persians,  but  that  semi-riv- 
iiization  which  has  disiinguished,  for  example,  the  Tartar  races, 
?inong  whom  att,  and  even  science,  have  macle,  indeed,  some 
]3rogress  in  their  adaptation  to  material  wants  and  sensual  grati- 
fication, but  little  in  reference  ioth.(j  higher  and  more  ennobiing 
interests  of  humanity.  Jt  is  chnracteiistic  of  such  a  people  to 
'inJ  a  puerile  pleasure  in  a  ciazziing  and  ostentatious  pageantry; 

"  Hernal  Di.iz,  Hist.  cIi:  In  Conquist:i,  cap.  91.— Cait.i  d-.  I  I.ic.  Zuazo, 
?.iS. — Oviedo.  Hie.  de  las  Iik'.,  MS.,  ul/i  supr.'i.  — Toi  iuio.  liise  dc  !.>.<  In- 
d'os,  .MS.,  I'aile  3.  cap.  7.  —  i-cl.  .Set;,  de  Cortes,  a]).  I.(;reiiz;e>:'..  pp.  ixo- 
;  I  ^. —  kel.  '!'  Ii!!  f^eiii..  ap.  Ramusio,  tmii.  1  f !.  fol.  306. 

'  Ii  tie:  !.;-■•!  :.in  will  dtsct,i:d  but.  a  generation  later  Tor  his  authorities-,  he 
rrnv  fiini  ;..:''  1  ..:  ,  for  ...-  ^ood  a  chapter  as  any  in  Sir  Jolin  Mauiulevilic  or 
ti.e    \\-\'Fx\.   '"-r:;i.l;-. 


402 


RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 


to  mistake  show  for  substance ;  vain  pomp  for  power;  to  hedge 
round  the  throne  itself  with  a  barren  and  burdensome  ceremo- 
nial, the  counterfeit  of  real  majesty. 

Even  this,  however,  was  an  advance  in  refinement,  compared 
with  the  rude  manners  of  the  earlier  Aztecs.  The  change  may, 
doubtless,  be  referred  in  some  degree  to  the  personal  infiuence 
of  Montezuma.  In  his  younger  days,  he  had  tempered  the  fierce 
habits  of  the  soldier  with  the  milder  profession  of  religion.  In 
later  life,  he  had  withdrawn  himself  still  more  from  the  brutal- 
izing occupations  of  war,  and  his  manners  acquired  a  refinement 
Cinctured,  it  may  be  added,  with  an  effeminacy,  unknown  to  his 
martial  predecessors. 

The  condition  of  the  empire,  too,  under  his  reign  was  favora- 
ble to  this  change.  The  dismemberment  of  the  Tezcucan  king- 
dom, on  the  death  of  the  great  Nezahualpilli,  had  left  the  Aztec 
monarchy  without  a  rival;  and  it  soon  spread  its  colossal  arms 
over  the  furthest  limits  of  Anahuac.  The  aspiring  mind  of  Mon- 
tezuma rose  with  the  acquisition  of  wealth  and  power ;  and  he 
displayed  the  consciousness  of  new  importance  by  the  assump- 
tion of  unprecedented  state.  He  affected  a  reserve  unknown  to 
his  predecessors ;  withdrew  his  person  from  the  vulgar  eye,  and 
fenced  himself  round  with  an  elaborate  and  courtly  etiquette. 
When  he  went  abroad,  it  was  in  state,  on  some  public  occasion, 
usually  to  the  great  temple,  to  take  part  in  the  religious  ser- 
vices ;  and,  as  he  passed  along,  he  exacted  from  his  people,  as 
we  have  seen,  the  homage  of  an  adulation  worthy  of  an  Oriental 
despot.**  His  haughty  demeanor  touched  the  pride  of  his  more 
potent  vassals,  particularly  those  who,  at  a  distance,  felt  them- 
selves nearly  independent  of  his  authority.  His  exactions,  de- 
manded by  the  profuse  expenditure  of  his  palace,  scattered 
broad-cast  the  seeds  of  discontent ;  and,  while  the  empire 
seemed  towering  in  its  most  palmy  and  prosperous  state,  the 
canker  had  eaten  deepest  into  its  heart. 

*"  "  Referre  in  tanto  rege  piget  superbam  mutationem  vestis.  et  desiderata* 
humi  jacentiuni  adulationes."  (Livy,  Hist.,  lib.  9,  cap.  18.)  Tlie  remarks 
of  the  Roman  historian  in  reference  to  Alexander,  after  he  was  infected  by 
the  manner*  of  Persia,  fit  equally  well  the  Aztec  emperor. 


MARKE T  IN  MEXICO.  4©, 


CHAPTER  II. 

Market  of  Mexico. — Great Templk. — Interior  Sanctuaries. 
Spanish  Quarters. 

1519- 

Four  days  had  elapsed  since  the  Spaniards  made  their  entry 
int'^  Mexico.  Whatever  schemes  llieir  coinmaader  may  have 
r-vohed  in  his  mind,  he  feU  that  he  could  determine  on  no  plan 
of  operations  till  he  had  seen  more  of  the  capital,  and  ascer- 
tai!ii;cl  by  his  own  inspection  the  nature  of  its  resources.  He 
according! V,  as  was  observed  at  the  close  of  the  last  Book,  sent 
to  Moniezuma,  asking  permission  to  visit  the  great  icocaili^  and 
some  oiher  places  in  the  cily. 

The  friendly  nionarch  consented  without  dithcui  ■".  He  even 
prepared  to  go  in  person  to  tl:e  great  temple  to  receive  his 
guests  there, — it  may  be.  to  shield  the  shrine  of  his  tutelar  deity 
from  any  attempted  profanation.  He  was  acquainted,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  with  the  proceedings  of  the  Spaniards  on 
similar  occasio^is  in  the  course  of  their  march. — Cortc's  put  liim- 
self  at  the  head  of  liis  lit;le  corps  of  cavalrv.  and  nearly  all  the 
Spanish  foot,  as  usual,  and  followed  tiie  cac;q>',es  ^rnt  by  Mon- 
tezuma to  gnkle  him.  They  proposed  first  to  conduct  him  to 
the  great  marl<et  of  'i"tateloco  in  the  western  i):n-t  of  the 
city.  ^ 

Oil  the  wa\\  the  Spaniarils  were  struck,  in  the  san.ie  manner 
as  tiicy  had  been  on  entering  the  capital,  with  the  ap[>earance 
of  the  inhabitants,  and  tlnur  great  superiority  in  t!ie  st_\  it- 
and  quality  of  their  dress,  owr  tl;e  people  of  tin;  lower 
countriLS.-'  The  illmatli  or  cloak  tlirov/n  over  tlie  s.'iouiciers  and 
ti"-.d  round  the  neck,  made  of  cotton  of  diilerent  degrees  of 
lincr.ess,  according  to  the  condition  cif  the  wearer,  aial  tiic  ample 
sash  arotnid  the  loins,  were  often  wrought  in  rich  and  elegant 
figures,  and  edged  with  a  deep  fringe  or  tas:,cl.      .'\s  the  weather 

^  *'  T.a  Gente  de  esta  Ciiidad  c  s  de  mas  nianera  y  prinior  en  .su  vestido,  y 
•ervicio,  (|ue  id  la  otra  du  esias  otras  I'roviiicias,  y  (Jiudades:  portjue  com(.' 
alli  estatja  siempre  este  .Sefior  Moteczutna,  y  todus  Ids  Sefiorcs  sus  Vasaiios 
ocurrian  siempre  k  la  Ciudad,  hahia  cii  ella  inas  maiier.a,  y  policia  en  todas 
la.»  cosas."     Rel.  Seg.,  ap.  Loreiizana,  p.  109. 


404 


RESWENCE  IN  MEXICO. 


was  now  growing  cool,  mantles  of  fur  or  of  the  gorgeous 
feather-work  were  sometimes  substituted.  The  latter  combined 
the  advantage  of  great  warmth  with  beauty.''^  The  Mexicans 
had  also  the  art  of  spinning  a  fine  thread  of  the  hair  of  the 
rabbit  and  other  animals,  which  they  wove  into  a  delicate  web 
that  took  a  permanent  dye. 

The  women,  as  in  other  parts  of  the  country,  seemed  to  go 
about  as  freely  as  the  men.  They  wore  several  skirts  or  petti- 
coats of  different  lengths,  with  highly  ornamented  borders,  and 
sometimes  over  them  loose  flowing  robes,  which  reached  to  the 
ankles.  These,  also,  we:''=  made  of  cotton,  for  the  wealthier 
classes,  of  a  fine  texture,  prettily  embroidered.^  No  veils  were 
worn  here,  as  in  some  other  parts  of  Anahuac,  where  they  were 
made  of  the  aloe  thread,  or  of  a  light  web  of  hair,  above  noticed. 
The  Aztec  women  had  their  faces  exposed  ;  and  their  dark, 
raven  tresses  floated  luxuriantly  over  their  shoulders,  revealing 
features,  which,  although  of  a  dusky  or  rather  cinnamon  hue, 
were  not  unfrequently  pleasing,  while  touched  with  the  serious, 
even  sad  expression  characteristic  of  the  national  physiog- 
nomy.* 

On  the  drawing  near  to  the  tianguez,  or  great  market,  the 
Spaniards  were  astonished  at  the  throng  of  people  pressing  to- 
wards it,  and,  on  entering  the  place,  their  surprise  was  still 
further  heightened  by  the  sight  of  the  multitudes  assembled  there, 
and  the  dimensions  of  the  inclosure,  thrice  as  large  as  the  cele- 
brated square  of  Salamanca.^  Here  were  met  together  traders 
from  all  parts,  with  the  products  and  manufactures  peculiar  to 
their  countries  ;  the  goldsmiths  of  Azcapozalco  ;  the  potters  and 
jewellers  of  Cholula,  the  painters  of  Tezcuco,  the  stone-cutters 
of  Tenajocan,  the  hunters  of  Xilotepec,  the  fishermeu  of  Cuitla- 
huac,  the  fruiterers  of  the  warm  countries,  the  mat  and  chair- 
makers  of  Quauhtitlan,  and  the  florists  of  Xochimilco, — all 
busily  engaged  in  recommending  their  respective  wares,  and  in 
chaffering  with  purchasers." 

2  Zuazo,  speaking  of  the  l)eauty  and  warmth  of  this  national  fabiic,  says, 
"  Vi  muchas  mantas  de  a  dos  haces  labrades  de  piumas  de  papos  de  aves 
tan  suaves,  que  trayendo  la  mano  por  cncima,  a  pelo  y  a  pospelo,  no  era 
mas  que  vna  manta  zebellina  mul  liien  adobada:  hice  pesar  vna  dellas  no 
peso  mas  de  seis  onzas.  Dicen  que  en  el  tiempo  del  Ynbierno  una  abasta 
para  encima  de  la  camisa  sin  otro  cobertor  ni  mas  ropa  encima  de  la  cama." 
Carta,  MS. 

'  "  Sono  lunghe  &  large,  lauorate  di  bellisimi,  &  molto  gentili  lauori  sparsi 
per  esse,  c6  le  loro  fraiigie,  6  orletti  ben  lauorati  che  compariscono  benis- 
simo."     Rel.  d'un  gent.,  ap.  Kamusio,  torn.  III.  fol.  305. 

*  Ibid.,  fol.  301;. 
6  Ibid.,  fol.  309. 

*  "  Quiv;  v:o;;cu;;cvui'.j    i  I'enioi:;;,  ed    i  (jiojeliieri  di  Cholulla,  gli    Orefid 


MARKET  IX  MEXICO,  405 

The  market-place  was  surrounded  by  deep  porticos,  and  the 
several  articles  had  each  its  own  quarter  allotted  to  it.  Here 
might  be  seen  cotton  piled  up  in  bales,  or  manufactured  into 
dresses  and  articles  of  domestic  use,  as  tapestry,  curtains,  cover- 
lets and  the  like.  The  richly  stained  and  nice  fabrics  reminded 
Cortes  of  the  alcayceria,  or  silk-market  of  Granada.  Tiiere  was 
the  quarter  assigned  to  the  goldsmiths,  where  the  purciiasei 
might  find  various  articles  of  ornament  or  use  formed  of  the 
precious  metals,  or  curious  toys,  such  as  we  have  already  had 
occasion  to  notice,  made  in  imitation  of  birds  and  fishes,  with 
scales  and  feathers  alternately  of  go'd  and  silver,  and  with 
movable  heads  and  bodies.  These  fantastic  little  trinkets  were 
often  garnisiied  with  precious  stones,  and  showed  a  patient, 
puerile  ingenuity  in  the  manufacture,  like  that  of  the  Chi- 
nese.' 

In  an  adjoining  quarter  were  collected  specimens  of  pottery 
coarse  and  line,  vases  of  wood  elaborately  carved,  varnished  or 
gilt,  of  curious  and  sometimes  graceful  forms.  There  were  also 
hatciiets  made  of  copper  alloyed  with  tin,  tlie  substitute,  and,  as 
it  proved,  not  a  bad  one,  for  iron.  The  soldier  found  here  all 
the  implements  of  his  trade.  The  casque  fasliioned  into  the 
head  of  some  wild  animal,  with  its  grinning  defences  of  teeth, 
and  bristling  crest   dj-ed    with   the   rich  tir.i  of  the   cochineal ;® 

d'  Azcapozalco,  i  Pitwi  di  Te,?airo,  gli  Scar]iellini  di  Tenajoran,  j  Caceia- 
fori  (ii  Xilotopcc,  i  Pescat'jri  di  Cuiliahuac,  i  fruttajiioli  de'  pacai  caidi,  gii 
artcfici  di  stuoje,  e  di  scraiiuc  di  Quaulititlan  ed  i  coltivatori  dfi'  fieri  d? 
Xociiiinilco.''     Cla%'igero,  Slor.  del  Messico.  torn.  II.  p.  165, 

"'  "  f)!"!)  y  i)!at.a,  jjicdras  de  valor,  con  otros  pUitunjes  e  argciiicrias  niara- 
vii'rjias,  V  con  tanto  yrim'-.>r  faliricadas  f[ne  t'xcede  todo  iugeiiio  humane,  pars 
comprenderlas  y  alcanzarlas,"  (Carta  del  Lie.  Zaazo.  MS.}  i'he  licentiatr 
thcii  caumerates  scvjral  uf  these  elegant  pieces  tif  nieciianisui.  Cortes  i,. 
n  it  less  emphatic  in  his  adniir.'itio:i  ;  "Contrahcciias  di'  oro,  v  plala,  y  piedras 
V  lyluma,,  tan  al  natural  lo  de  Oro.  v  Pl-'ta,  que  no  hay  Platero  en  el  Mnndo 
f;j'.)  rnejor  !o  hicics^e,  y  lo  de  las  Piedras,  que  no  baste  juirio  comprehende: 
c  in  <iue  instrum'jato,  se  iiicies^e  tan  ]-)erfecto,  vlo  de  Pluma.  one  ni  do  Cera, 
iii  en  ninguri  broslado  se  podria  hacer  tan  maravillosaniente."  (Rei  ''"  p;., 
*;■  Lorcnzana,  p.  no.)  Petor  Martyr,  a  less  prejudiced  cr:ti('  lli;..n  rorte.s, 
an'!  who  saw  and  examined  ni?riv  of  the^i-  golden  trinkets  afu-rwa.rds  -r  Cas- 
tile, bears  the  same  testimony  to  the  e.Y'|uisitc  clriracter  of  the  workniaiishi[), 
•v'lich,  he  says,  far  surj)as:-ed  the  value  of  thL-  material,  i)c  Uibc  -\ovo, 
dec.  5,  cap.  ro. 

*'  Herrera  makes  the  unauthorized  asscrtif)!!,  repealed  !)'.•  Solis,  tiiut  the 
Nf'txican^  were  unacquninted  with  the  value  of  the  cochineal,  t'il  it  was  taught 
ticm  by  the  Spaniards.  (Hcrrera,  Hist.  CJeneral,  dec.  .\,  lib.  S,  cap,  11.) 
The  natives,  on  the  contrary,  took  infinite  pains  to  rear  the  insect  on  planta- 
r!o  IS  of  the  cactus,  and  it  formed  one  of  the  sta[>le  tribute-!  to  the  rroM-i 
"r  ;in  certain  district-;.  Seethe  tribute-roll'-,  aj).  l.orenzana.  \os.  ?.-..  :•.•)  — 
tiernandez,  Hist.  Plantarum,  lib.  (i^  cap.  iiu. — Also,  Clavigcro.  St  de' 
M'jasico,  torn.  J.  p.  114,  nota. 


^Og  RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 

the   escaupil,  or   quilted   doublet   of  cotton,  the  rich   surcoat  of 

feather-mail,  and  weapons  of  all  sorts,  copper-headed  lances 
and  arrows,  and  the  broad  maquahuitl,  the  Mexican  sword,  with 
its  sharp  blades  of  itztli.  Here  were  razors  and  mirrors  of  thi? 
same  hard  and  polished  mineral  which  served  so  many  of  the 
purposes  of  steel  with  the  Aztecs.^  In  the  square  were  also  to 
be  found  booths  occupied  by  barbers,  who  used  these  same 
razors  in  their  vocation.  For  the  Mexicans,  contrary  to  the 
popular  and  erroneous  notions  respecting  the  Aborigines  of  the 
New  World,  had  beards,  though  scanty  ones.  Other  shops  or 
booths  were  tenanted  by  apothecaries,  well  provided  with  drugs, 
roots,  and  different  medicinal  preparations.  In  other  places, 
again,  blank  books  or  maps  for  the  hieroglyphical  picture-writ- 
ing were  to  be  seen,  folded  together  like  fans,  and  made  of 
cotton,  skins,  or  more  commonly  the  fibres  of  the  agave,  the 
Aztec  papyrus. 

Under  some  of  the  porticos  they  saw  hides  raw  and  dressed, 
and  various  articles  for  domestic  or  personal  use  made  of  the 
leather.  Animals,  both  wild  and  tame,  were  ofifered  for  sale, 
and  near  them,  perhaps,  a  gang  of  slaves,  with  collars  round 
their  necks,  in'.imating  they  were  likewise  on  sale, — a  spectacle 
unhappily  not  confined  to  the  barbarian  markets  of  Mexico, 
though  the  evils  of  their  condition  were  aggravated  there  by  the 
conciou^ness  that  a  ife  of  degradation  might  be  consummated 
at  any  moment  by  the  dreadful  doom  of  sacrifice. 

The  heavier  materials  for  building,  as  stone,  lime,  timber, 
were  considered  too  bulky  to  be  allowed  a  j^lace  in  the  square, 
and  were  deposited  in  the  adjacent  streets  on  the  borders  of 
the  canals.  It  would  be  tedious  to  enumerate  all  the  various 
articles,  whether  for  luxury  or  daily  use,  which  were  collected 
frcDm  all  quarters  in  this  vast  bazaar.  I  must  not  omit  to  men- 
tion, however,  the  display  of  provisions,  one  of  the  most  attrac- 
tive features  of  the  tianguez  ;  meats  of  all  kinds,  domestic 
poultry,  game  from  the  neighboring  mountains,  fish  from  the 
lakes  and  streams,  fruits  in  all  the  delicious  abundance  of  these 
temperate  regions,  green  vegetables,  and  the  unfailing  maize. 
There  was  many  a  viand,  too,  ready  dressed,  which  sent  up  its 
savory  streams  provoking  the  appetite  of  the  idle  passenger  ; 
pa">try,  br^ad    of   the   Indian    corn,   ^akes,   and  confectionery." 

®  Ante,  Vo'i.  I.  p.  ^15. 

^•^  Zuazo,  who  seems  to  have  been  niae  in  these  matters,  concludes  a  para- 
graph of  dainties  with  the  foiiowing  tribute  to  the  Aztec  cuisine.  "'  Venden.se 
nuebos  asados,  crudes,  en  tortilla,  fc  diversidad  de  guisados  aue  se  sueleii 
guisar,  con  otras  cazuelas  y  parteles,  que  en  el  mal  cocinado  de  Medina,  m 
en  otros  lugares  de  Tlamencos  dicen  que  hai  ni  se  pu»den  hallar  tales  truj* 
manes."     Carta,  M.S- 


MARKET  IN'  MEXICO. 


407 


Along  with  these  were  to  be  seen  cooling  or  stimulating  bev- 
erages, the  spicy  foaming  chocolatl,  with  its  delicate  aroma  of 
vanilla,  and  the  inebriating  pulque^  the  fermented  juice  of  the 
aloe.  AH  these  commodities,  and  every  stall  and  portico,  were 
set  out,  or  rather  smothered,  with  flowers,  showing,  on  a  much 
greater  scale,  indeed,  a  taste  similar  to  that  displayed  in  the 
markets  of  modern  Mexico.  Flowers  seem  to  be  the  sponta- 
neous growth  of  this  luxuriant  soil  ;  which,  instead  of  noxious 
weeds,  as  in  otiier  regions,  is  ever  ready,  without  the  aid  of  man, 
to  cover  up  its  nakedness  with  this  rich  and  variegated  livery  of 
Nature. ^^ 

I  will  spare  the  reader  the  repetition  of  all  the  particulars 
enumerated  by  the  bewildered  Spaniards,  which  are  of  some  in- 
terest as  evincing  the  various  mechanical  skill  and  the  polished 
wants,  resembling  those  of  a  refined  community,  rather  than  of 
a  nation  of  savages.  It  was  the  material  civilization,  which  be- 
longs neither  to  the  one  nor  the  other.  The  Aztec  had  plainly 
reached  that  middle  station,  as  far  above  the  rude  races  of  the  New" 
World  as  it  was  below  the  cultivated  communities  of  the  Old. 

At  to  the  numbers  assembled  in  the  market,  the  esti- 
mates differ,  as  usual.  The  Si)aniards  often  visited  the 
place,  and  no  one  states  the  amount  at  less  than  forty  thou- 
sand !  Some  carry  it  much  higher.'"  Without  relying  too  much 
on  the  arithmetic  of  the  Conquerors,  it  is  certain  that  on  this 
occasion,  which  occurred  every  fifth  day,  the  city  swarmed  with 
a  motley  crowd  of  strangers,  not  only  from  the  vicinity,  but 
from  many  leagues  around  ;  the  causeways  were  thronged,  and 
the  lake  was  darkened  by  canoes  filled  with  traders  flocking  to 
the  great  tianguez.  It  resembled,  indeed,  the  perodical  fairs  in 
Europe,  not  as  they  exist  now,  but  as  they  existed  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  when,  from  the  difficulties  of  intercommunication,  they 
served    is  the   great   central  marts  for   commercial  intercourse, 

^  Ample  details — many  more  than  T  have  thought  it  necessar\-  to  give — 
of  the  Aztec  market  of  Tlatelolco  may  be  found  in  the  writings  01  all  the  old 
Spaniards  who  visited  the  capital.  Among  others,  see  Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes, 
ap.  lx)renzana,  pp.  103-105. — Toribio,  Hist,  de  los  Indios,  ^IS.,  Parte  3, 
cap)  7. — Carta  del  Lie.  Zuazo,  MS.  —  Rel.  d'un  gent.,  ap.  Ramusio,  torn. 
Ill   fol.  309.  — Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  92. 

'^  Zuazo  raises  it  to  80,000 1  (Carta.  MS.)  Cortes  to  60,000.  (Rel.  Seg., 
obi    supra.)     The    most    modest    ccjmputation    is    that  of    the    ''  Anonymous 


it.<*i,  I'-f-jiin  jii  iijv..  ii,iiitiii  v^i.-^iwii  »-»!  iiji.o  ciuLiji^i,  !.'>  (I  iiiisprmt.  (See  the  pre- 
ceding chapter,  note  13.)  He  would  hardly  have  crowded  an  ansoupt  e(|;i.ii 
to  tke  \rholc  of  it  into  the  market. 


^o8  RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 

exercising  a  most  important  and  salutary  influence  on  the  com 

muniiy. 

The  exchanges  were  conducted  partly  by  barter,  but  more 
usually  in  the  currency  of  the  country.  This  consisted  of  bits 
of  tin  stamped  with  a  character  like  a  X?  bags  of  cacao,  the  value 
of  which  was  regulated  by  their  size,  and  lastly  quills  filled  with 
gold  dust.  Gold  was  part  of  the  regular  currency,  it  seems,  in 
both  hemispheres.  In  their  dealings  it  is  singular  that  they 
should  have  had  no  knowledge  of  scales  and  weights.  The  quan- 
tity was  determined  by  measure  and  number.^ 

The  m.ost  perfect  order  reigned  throughout  this  vast  assembly. 
Officers  patrolled  the  square,  whose  business  it  was  to  keep  the 
peace,  to  collect  the  duties  imposed  on  the  different  articles  of 
merchandise,  to  see  that  no  false  measures  or  fraud  of  any  kind 
were  used,  and  to  bring  offenders  at  once  to  justice.  A  court  of 
twelve  judges  sat  in  one  part  of  the  tianguez,  clothed  with  those 
ample  and  summary  powers,  which,  in  despotic  countries,  are 
often  delegated  even  to  petty  tribunals.  The  extreme  severity 
with  which  they  exercised  these  pov/ers,  in  more  than  one  in- 
stance, proves  that  they  were  not  a  dead  letter." 

The  tianguez  of  ^Mexico  was  naturally  an  object  of  great  inter- 
est, as  well  as  vv'onder,  to  the  Spaniards.  For  in  it  they  saw 
converged  into  one  focus,  as  it  were,  all  the  rays  of  civilization 
scattered  throughout  the  land.  Here  they  beheld  the  various 
evidences  of  mechanical  skill,  of  domestic  industry,  the  multiplied 
resources,  of  wliatever  kind,  within  the  compass  of  the  natives. 
It  could  not  fail  to  impress  them  with  high  ideas  of  the  magni- 
tude of  these  resources,  as  well  as  of  the  commercial  activity 
and  social  subordination  by  which  the  whole  community  was 
knit  together  ;  and  their  admiraiion  is  fully  evinced  by  the  min- 
ineness  and  energy  of  their  description.ia 

From  this  bustling  scene,  the  Spaniards  took  tiieir  way  to  the 
great  leocalli,  in  the  neigliborhood  of  their  own  quarters.  It 
covered.  \\r,h  the  subordinate  edifices,  as  the  reader  has  already 
seen,  the  large  tract  of  ground  now  occupied  by  the  cathedral, 
part  of  the  market-place,  and  some  of  the  adjoining  streets.^ 
it  v/as  the  spot  wiiich  had  been  consecrated  to  the  same  object, 

^8  Ante,  Vol.  1.  p.  145. 

i'»Toribio,  Hist,  de  los  I;i(';ios,  MS.,  Parte  3.  c.ip.  7. — Rel.  Sr-g.,  ap.  Lor- 
tnzana,  p.  104. — Oviedo,  Hist,  de  las  lad.,  MS.,  lib.  33.  cap.  10. — Bernal 
Dir.z,  IJist.  de  la  Conquista,  loc.  cit. 

'*  "  Kntre  nosotros,"  says  Diaz,  "  huuo  soldados  que  auian  estado  en 
jnuchas  paries  del  mundo,  y  en  Constuntinopla,  y  en  toda  Italia,  v  Roiri;'.,  y 
■dixerijn,  que  p!a9a  tan  l..ieR  compassada,  y  con  tanto  concierto,  y  tamafia,  y 
llena  de  tanta  gente.  no  la  auian  visto."     Ibid.,  ubi  supra. 

i**  Clavigero,  Stor.  del  Messico,  torn.  II.  p.  27. 


GREAT  TEMPLE. 


40»j 


probably,  ever  since  the  foundation  of  the  city.  The  present 
building,  however,  was  of  no  great  antiquity,  having  been  con- 
'btructed  by  Ahuitzotl,  who  celebrated  its  dedication  in  i486, 
oy  that  hecatomb  of  victims,  of  which  such  incredible  reports  are 
to  be  found  in  the  chronicles. ^^ 

It  stood  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  area,  encompassed  by  a  wall  of 
stone  and  lime,  about  eight  feet  high,  ornamented  on  the  outer 
side  by  figures  of  serpents,  raised  in  relief,  which  gave  it  the 
name  of  the  coatepantli,  or  "  wall  of  serpents."  This  emblem 
was  a  common  one  in  the  sacred  sculpture  of  Anahuac,  as  well 
as  of  Egypt.  The  wall,  which  was  quadrangular,  was  pierced  by 
huge  battlemented  gateways,  opening  on  the  four  principai 
streets  of  the  capital.  Over  each  of  the  gates  was  a  kind  of 
arsenal,  filled  with  arms  and  warlike  gear;  and,  if  we  may  credit 
the  report  of  the  Conquerors,  there  were  barracks  adjoining, 
garrisoned  by  ten  thousand  soldiers,  who  served  as  a  sort  of 
military  police  for  the  capital,  supplying  the  emperor  with  a 
strong  arm  in  case  of  tumult  or  sedition. "-^ 

The  teocalli  itself  was  a  solid  pyramidal  structure  of  earth  and 
pebbles,  coated  on  the  outside  with  hewn  stones  probably  of  the 
light,  porous  kind  employed  in  the  buildings  of  the  city.^'  It 
was  probably  square,  with  its  sides  facing  the  cardinal  points.*' 
It  was  divided  into  five  bodies  or  stories,  each  one  receding  so 
as  to  be  of  smaller  dimensions  than  that  immediately  below  it ; 
tae  usual  form  of  the  Aztec  teocallis,  as  already  described,  and 
bearing  obvious  resemblance  to  some  of  the  primitive  pyramidal 
structures  in  the  Old  World.-^  The  ascent  was  by  a  flight  of 
steps  on  the  outside,  which  reached  to  the  narrow  terrace  or 
platform  at  the  base  of  the  second  story,  passing  quite  round  the 

1"  Ante,  Vol.  I.  p.  80. 

^"  ■'  Et  cli  piii  v'  hauea  vna  guarnigione  di  dieci  mila  huomini  di  guerra, 
tutti  eletti  per  huomini  valenti,  &  queski  accompagnauano  &  guardauano  la 
sua  persona,  &  quando  si  facea  qualche  rumore  6  ribellione  nella  citta  6  ne! 
paese  circuniuicino,  andauano  questi,  6  parte  d'  essi  per  Capitani.'  Rel.  d' 
un  gent.,  ap.  Ramusio,  torn.  III.  fol.  309. 

i'"*  Humboldt,  Essai  Politique,  torn.  II.  p.  40. 

On  paving  the  stjuare,  not  long  ago,  round  the  moderii  cat!iedral.  there 
were  found  large  blocks  of  sculptured  stone  buried  between  thirty  and  forty 
feti  deep  in  the  ground.      Ibid.,  loc.  cit. 

-'  1,'lavigero  calls  it  oblong,  on  the  alleged  authority  of  the  "Anonymous 
CuMiuercjr."  (Stor.  del  Messico,  torn.  II.  p.  27,  nota. )  Hut  the  latter  says 
not  a  w(jrd  of  the  shape,  and  his  contem[)tible  woodcut  is  too  plainly  desti- 
tute of  all  pro[)ortioii,  to  furnish  an  inference  of  anv  kind.  (C'oiup.  Rel.  d' 
un  gent.,  ap.  Ramusio,  torn.  III.  fol.  307.)  Torciuemado  and  (lomara  both 
sav,  it  was  square;  (Monarch.  Ind.,  lib.  8,  cap.  11; — Crouica,  cap.  80  ;j 
and  Toribio  dc  I'enavente,  speaking  generally  of  the  Mexican  temples,  saySy 
they  had  that  form,  lli.-^t.  de  los.  liid.,  MS.,  Parte  I,  cap.  I.:, 
See  A:  :.  n  Lj. .  I\i>  t  \. 


4IO 


RESIDENCE  IX  MEXICO. 


building,  when  a  second  stairway  conducted  to  a  similar  landing 
at  the  base  of  the  third.  The  breadth  of  this  walk  was  just  so 
much  space  as  was  left  by  the  retreating  story  next  above  it. 
From  this  construction  the  visitor  was  obliged  to  pass  round  the 
whole  edifice  four  times,  in  order  to  reach  the  top.  This  had  a 
most  imposing  effect  in  the  religious  ceremonials,  when  the  pomp- 
ous procession  of  priests  with  their  wild  minstrelsy  came  sweep- 
ing round  the  huge  sides  of  the  pyramid,  as  they  rose  higher  anci 
higher,  in  the  presence  of  gazing  multitudes,  towards  the  sum- 
mit. 

The  dimensions  of  the  temple  cannot  be  given  with  any  cer 
tainty.  The  Conquerors  judged  by  the  eye,  rarely  troubling 
themselves  with  anything  like  an  accurate  measurement.  It 
was,  probably,  not  much  less  than  three  hundred  feet  square  at 
the  base  ;  ^  and,  as  the  Spaniards  counted  a  hundred  and  four, 
teen  steps,  was  probably,  less  than  one  hundred  feet  in  height. 25 

When  Cone's  arrived  before  the  teocalli,  he  found  two  priests 
and  several  caciques  commissioned  by  Montezuma  to  save  him 
the  fatigue  of  the  ascent  by  bearing  him  on  their  shoulders,  in  the 
same  manner  as  had  been  done  to  the  emperor.  But  the  gen- 
eral declined  the  compliment,  preferring  to  march  up  at  the 
head  of  his  men.  On  reaching  the  summit,  they  found  it  a  vast 
area,  paved  with  broad  flat  stones.  The  first  object  that  met 
their  view  was  a  large  block  of  jasper,  the  peculiar  shape  of 
which  showed  it  was  the  stone  on  which  the  bodies  of  the  un- 
happy victims  were  stretched  for  sacrifice.  Its  convex  surface, 
by  raising  the  breast,  enabled  the  priest  to  perform  his  diabolical 

"  Cla.'igero,  calling  it  oblong,  adopis  Torquemada's  estimate, — not  Saha- 
gun's,  as  lie  pretends,  wliicli  lie  ne\er  saw,  and  who  gives  no  measurement 
of  tiie  building, — for  tile  lengtli,  and  Gomara's  estimate,  which  is  somewhat 
le.is,  for  the  breadth.  (Stor.  del.  Messico,  torn.  II.  p.  28,  nota.  j  As  both 
his  authorities  maKe  the  building  s^juare,  this  spirit  of  accommodation  is 
whimsical  enough.  Toribio,  who  did  measure  a  teocalli  of  the  usual  con- 
struction in  the  town  of  'J'enayuca,  found  ic  to  be  f'jrty  brazas,  or  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  feet  square.  (Hist,  de  los  Ind,,  MS.,  Parte  i.  cap.  12.)  'i'he 
great  temple  of  Mexico  was  undoubtedly  larger,  and,  in  the  want  of  better 
authorities,  one  may  accept  Torquemado,  who  makes  it  a  little  more  than 
three  hundred  and  sixty  Toledan,  equal  to  three  hundred  and  eight  French 
feet,  square.  (Monarch,  Ind.,  lib.  8.  cap.  11.)  How  can  M.  de  Humboldt 
speak  of  the  '"great  concurrence  of  testimony  "  in  regard  to  the  dunensions 
of  the  temple.''     (Essai  Politique,  torn.  II.  p.  41.)     No  two  authorities  agree, 

^  Bernal  Diaz  says  he  counted  one  hundred  and  fourteen  s*:-ps.  (Hist, 
de  la  Conquista,  cap.  92.)  Toribio  says  that  more  than  one  person  who  had 
numbered  them  told  him  they  exceeded  a  hundred.  (Hist.de  ios  Ind;o.s. 
MS..  Parte  i,  cap.  12.)  The' steps  could  hardly  have  been  less  than  eight 
or  ten  inches  high,  each  ;  Clavigero  assumes  that  they  were  a  foot,  and  that 
the  building,  therefore,  was  a  hundred  and  fourteen  feet  high,  precisely, 
(Stor.  del  Messico,  torn.  II.  pp.  28,  29.)  It  is  seldom  safe  to  use  anything 
•tronger  ^\iz.xi probably  in  history. 


GJiEA  T  TEMPLE. 


411 


task  more  easily,  of  removing  the  heart.  At  the  other  end  of 
the  area  were  two  towers  or  sanctuaries,  consisting  of  three 
stories,  the  lower  one  of  stone  and  stucco,  the  two  upper  of 
wood  elaborately  carved.  In  the  lower  division  stood  the  ima- 
ges of  their  gods  ;  the  apartments  above  were  tilled  with  utensils 
for  their  religious  services,  and  with  the  ashes  of  some  of  their 
Aztec  princes,  who  had  fancied  this  airy  sepulchre.  Before  each 
sanctuary  stood  an  allar  with  that  undying  fire  upon  it,  the 
extinction  of  which  boded  as  much  evil  to  the  empire,  as  that  of 
the  Vestal  flame  would  have  done  in  ancient  Rome.  Here, 
also,  was  the  huge  cylindrical  drum  made  of  serpents'  skins, 
and  struck  only  on  extraordinary  occasions,  when  it  sent  forth  a 
melancholy  sound  that  might  be  heard  for  miles, — a  sound  ot 
woe  in  after-times  to  the  Spaniards. 

Montezuma,  attended  by  the  high-priest,  came  forward  to  re- 
ceive Cortds  as  he  mounted  the  area.  "  You  are  weary,  Malin- 
che,''  said  he  to  him,  "  with  climbing  up  our  great  temple."  But 
Cortes,  with  a  politic  vaunt,  assured  him  "the  Spaniards  were 
never  weary  "  !  Then,  taking  him  by  the  hand,  the  emperor 
pointed  out  the  localities  of  the  neighborhood.  The  temple  on 
which  they  stood,  rising  high  above  all  other  edifices  in  the 
capital,  afforded  the  most  elevated  as  well  as  central  pcint  of 
view.  Below  them,  the  city  lay  spread  out  like  a  map,  with  its 
streets  and  canals  intersecting  each  other  at  right  angles,  its  ter- 
raced roofs  blooming  like  so  many  parterres  of  flowers.  Every 
place  seemed  alive  with  business  and  bustle ;  canoes  were 
glancing  up  and  down  the  canals,  the  streets,  were  crowded  with 
people  in  their  gay,  picturesque  costumes,  while  from  the  market- 
place, they  had  so  lately  left,  a  confused  hum  of  many  sounds 
and  voices  rose  upon  the  air.''^  They  could  distinctly  trace  the 
symmetrical  plan  of  the  city,  with  its  principal  avenues  issuing, 
as  it  were,  from  the  four  gates  of  the  coatepaJitli  \  and  connecting 
themselves  with  the  causeways,  which  formed  the  grand  en- 
trances to  the  capital.  This  regular  and  beautiful  arrangement 
was  imitated  in  many  of  the  inferior  towns,  where  the  great  roads 
converged  towards  the  chief  teocalli,  or  cathedral,  as  to  a  con 
mon  focus. ^     They  could  discern  the  insular  position  of  the  nir 

*•  "  Tornamos  a  vcr  la  gran  pla9a,  y  la  nnillitud  de  gente  ^ue  en  eila  aula, 
vnos  comprados,  y  otros  vendiendo,  '|ue  solamente  el    rumor,  y  zuinbido  d 
las  vozes,  y  ];alabra.s  que  alii  aula,  sotuiua  nias  ([ue  de  viia  legua  1  "     Bern:'. 
Diaz,  Hibt.  de  la  ('ontjuista,  cap.  92. 

'■^  ■'  \  \>')x  honrar  mas  sus  teni[)li)s  sacaban  los  caminos  imiv  derechos  por 
cordel  de  una  v  de  dos  leguas  (|ue  era  cosa  harto  de  ver,  dcsde  lo  Alto  de' 
principal  templcj,  conio  venian  de  todos  los  pueblos  lueiiores  y  barrios  ; 
salian  los  cainiii'is  niuy  derechos  y  iban  a  dar  al  patio  de  los  teocallis."  Tor- 
ibio,  Hist,  de  los  Indios,  M.S.,  Parte  i,  cap.  12. 


4X3 


RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 


tTopolis,  bathed  on  all  sides  by  the  salt  floods  of  the  Tezcuco, 

and  in  the  distance  the  clear  fresh  waters  of  the  Chalco  ;  far 
beyond  stretched  a  wide  prospect  of  fields  and  waving  woods, 
with  the  burnished  walls  of  many  a  lofty  temple  rising  high  above 
the  trees,  and  crowning  the  distant  hill-tops.*  The  view  reached 
in  an  unbroken  line  to  the  very  base  of  the  circular  range  of 
mountains,  whose  frosty  peaks  glittered  as  if  touched  with  fire 
in  the  morning  ray  ;  while  long,  dark  wreaths  of  vapor,  rolling 
up  from  the  hoary  heard  of  Popocatepetl,  told  that  the  destroy- 
ing element  was,  indeed,  at  work  in  the  bosom  of  the  beautiful 
Valley. 

Cortes  was  filled  with  admiration  at  this  grand  and  glorious 
spectacle,  and  gave  utterance  to  his  feelings  in  animated  lan- 
guage to  the  emperor,  the  lord  of  these  flourishing  domains. 
His  thoughts,  however,  soon  took  another  direction  ;  and,  turn- 
ing to  father  Olmedo,  who  stood  by  his  side,  he  suggested  that 
the  area  would  afford  a  most  conspicuous  position  for  the 
Christian  Cross,  if  Montezuma  would  but  allow  it  to  be  planted 
there.  But  the  discreet  ecclesiastic,  with  the  good  sense  which 
on  these  occasions  seems  to  have  been  so  lamentably  deficient 
in  his  commander,  reminded  hirn,  that  such  a  recjuest,  at  present, 
would  be  exceedingly  ill-timed,  as  the  Indian  monarch  had 
shown  no  dispositions  as  yet  favorable  to  Christianity.^ 

Cortes  then  requested  Montezuma  to  allow  him  to  enter  the 
sanctuaries,  and  behold  the  shrines  of  his  gods.  To  this  the 
iaiter,  after  a  short  conference  with  the  priests,  assented,  and 
conducted  the  Spaniards  into  the  b'ulding.  They  found  them- 
selves in  a  spacious  apartment  incrusted  on  the  sides  with  stucco, 
on  which  various  figures  were  scr.lptured.  representing  the 
Mexican  calendar,  perhaps,  or  the  priestly  ritual.  At  one  end 
of  the  saloon  was  a  recess  with  a  roof  of  timber  richly  car\'ed 
aiid  gilt.  Before  the  altar  in  this  sanctuary,  stood  the  colossal 
image  of  Huitzilopotchli,  the  tutelary  deiiy  and  war-god  of  the 
Aztecs.  His  countenance  was  distorted  into  hideous  lii.eaments 
of  symbolical  import.  In  his  right  hand  he  wiehied  a  bow,  and 
in  his  left  a  bmirh  of  golden  arrows,  which  a  mystic  legend  had 
connected  with  the  victories  of  his  people.     The  huge  folds  of  a 

^  "No  se  Cfir.tentab?.  f]  Demonio  con  los  [Teucales]  va  dichos,  sino  cue 
en  cn.rl-1  pueljlo.  en  car'a  barrio,  y  a  cuarto  de  legua,  tenian  otros  patios 
pe'iucnos  adonde  habia  tres  6  cuatro  teocallis,  y  en  aigunos  mas,  en  otras 
V  i'res  solo  iino,  y  en  cada  Mogote  6  Cerrejon  uno  6  dos,  y  por  los  caminos 
y  cntre  los  Maizales,  haliia  otros  muchos  pequeiios,  y  todos  estaban  blancos 
y  cnra^ados,  que  parccian  y  abultaban  mucho,  fjue  en  la  tierra  bien  poblada 
pirecia  que  todo  estaba  lleno  decasas,  en  especial  de  los  patios  del  Demonio, 
que  eran  muy  de  ver."  Toribio,  Hist,  de  los  Indies,  MS.,  ubi  supra. 
2'  Bernal  Diaz.  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  ubi  supra. 


INTERIOR  SANCTUARIES. 


413 


serpent,  consisting  of  pearls  and  precious  stones,   were  coiled 

round  his  waist,  and  the  same  rich  materials  were  profusely 
sprinkled  over  his  person.  On  his  left  foot  were  the  delicate 
feathers  of  the  humming-bird,  which,  singularly  enough,  gave  its 
name  to  the  dread  deity."  The  most  conspicuous  ornamenl 
was  a  chaiii  of  gold  and  silver  hearts  alternate,  suspended  round 
his  neciv.  caibiematical  of  the  sacrifice,  '.\  whi^li  he  most  delight- 
ed. A  more  unequivocal  evidence  0'  -  'va-  afforded  by  three 
liuman  hearts  smoking  and  almost  paip  .  'ng,  as  if  recently  torn 
''om  the  victims,  and  now  lying  on  tite  a]t.t>"  before  him  ! 

The  adjoining  sanctuary  was  dedicated  to  a  milder  del-  ■~\  This 
v.as  Tezcatlipocn.  next  ui  honor  to  ti^iat  in\'isible  Being  the 
Supreme  (j  k,1,  who  was  represented  by  no  image,  and  confined 
by  no  temi'Io.  It  was  Tezcatlipoca  who  created  the  world,  and 
watched  over  it  with  a  j^rovidential  care.  He  was  represented 
as  a  voung  man,  and  his  image,  of  polished  black  stone,  was 
richlv  garnished  with  gold  plates  and  ornaments  ;  among  whLh 
a  shield,  burnished  like  a  mirror,  was  the  most  characteristic 
emblem,  as  in  it  he  saw  reflected  all  the  doings  of  the  world. 
But  the  honv'ge  to  this  god  Avas  not  always  of  a  more  refined  or 
Tierciful  character  than  that  paid  10  his  carnivorous  brother  ; 
for  five  bleeding  hearts  were  also  seen  in  a  golden  platter  on  his 
ahar. 

The  walls  of  both  thesj  chapels  were  stained  with  human 
gore.  "  The  stench  was  more  intolerable,"  exclaims  Diaz, 
"  than  that  J  tae  slaughter-houses  in  Castile  !  "  And  the  fran- 
tic forms  of  the  priests,  with  their  dark  robes  clotted  nith  blood, 
s,;  they  flitted  to  and  fro,  seemed  to  the  Spaniards  ti?  be  those 
)f  the  vcy  ministers  of  Satari  !^ 

From  tiiii  foul  abode  thc\  gladly  escaped  into  the  open  air; 
when  Cortes,  turning  to  Montezuma,  said,  with  a  smile,  '"I  do 
not  comprehend  how  a  great  and  wise  prince,  like  you,  can  put 
faith  in  such  evil  spirits  as  these  idols,  the  representatives  of  the 
Devil  !  If  you  will  but  permit  us  to  erect  here  the  true  Cross 
and  jdace  the  images  of  the  blessed  Virgin  and  her  S  ni  in  vour 
sanctuaries,  you  will  soon  see  how  youi  false  gods  will  siuink 
before  tiieni !  " 

Moniezuma  was  greatly  shocked  at  this  sacrilegious  address. 
"These  are  the  gods,"  he  arrsweiecj,  "  who  ha\-e   led  tlve  .\ztecs 

?'  Anu^,  Y,;l.  T.  II.  6;. 

'^'-*  '•  V  leiiia  c-n  las  paredes  t.nntas  co;-*ra-,  fie  -.aiiprc,  v  (  I  sue!'.  :ociii  hanadu 
cie;io,  que  cii  los  niatadercja  ck-  < 'asliila  n;.'  ;iuii  lanto  lufior."  ik-rnai  Diaz. 
H'st.  <!c  la  ('onquista,  iibi  S'ui'i'.i. —  lt(  :.  S  l',.  '!<■  ('■'rt;'s.  ;i[i.  J.orenzarri,  pt) 
!o^,  \<-''i. — ("nria  df;i  l,ic.  Zi;i:"  ,  ^I"-",— S-  ■  ,  iS-o,  for  iintices  of  these  deities, 
.Saiia-Mia,  iiii.  ;.  (;;;i.  '.e*^  S'm.,- -  I  (/Kiuem.ida.  Monarch.  Ind.,  lii).'^  eap. 
20,  21,— /v(,    -'.i.  lib     ;.  ea;      ^ 

.Mexico  18  '  Vol.  1 


414 


RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 


on  to  victory  since  they  were  a  nation,  and  who  send  the  seed 
time  and  harvest  in  their  seasons.  Had  I  thought  you  would 
have  offered  them  this  outrage,  I  would  not  have  admitted  you 
into  their  presence." 

Cortds,  after  some  expressions  of  concern  at  having  wounded 
the  feelings  of  the  emperor,  took  his  leave.  Montezuma  re- 
mained, saying  that  he  must  expiate,  if  possible,  the  crime  of 
exposing  the  shrines  of  the  divinities  to  such  profanation  by  the 
strangers.*' 

On  descending  to  the  court,  the  Spaniards  took  a  leisurely 
survey  of  the  other  edifices  in  the  inclosure.  The  area  was  pro- 
tected by  a  smooth  stone  pavement,  so  polished,  indeed,  that  it 
was  with  difficulty  the  horses  could  keep  their  legs.  There  were 
several  other  ieocallis,  built  generally  on  the  model  of  the  great 
one,  though  of  much  inferior  size,  dedicated  to  the  different 
Aztec  deities.'^^  On  their  summits  were  the  altars  crowned  with 
perpetual  flames,  which,  with  those  on  the  numerous  temples  in 
Others  quarters  of  the  capital,  shed  a  brilliant  illumination  over 
its  streets,  through  the  long  nights.*'^ 

Among  the  teocallis  in  the  inclosure  was  one  consecrated  to 
Quetzalcoatl,  circular  in  its  form,  and  having  an  entrance  in 
imitation  of  a  dragon's  mouth,  bristling  with  sharp  fangs,  and 
dropping  with  blood.  As  the  Spaniards  cast  a  furtive  glance 
Into  the  throat  of  this  horrible  monster,  they  saw  collected  there 
implements  of  sacrifice  and  other  abominations  of  fearful  import. 
Their  bold  hearts  shuddered  at  the  spectacle,  and  they  desig- 
nated the  place  not  inaptly  as  the  "  Hell."  ^ 

One  other  structure  may  be  noticed  as  characteristic  of  the 

*•  Bernal  Diaz,  Ibid.,  ubi  supra. 

Whoever  examines  Cortes  great  letter  to  Charles  V.  will  be  surprised  to 
find  it  stated,  that,  instead  of  any  acknowledgment  to  Montezuma,  he  threw 
down  his  idols  and  erected  the  Christian  emblems  in  their  stead.  (Rel. 
Seg.,  ap.  Lorenzana,  p.  io6.)  This  was  an  event  of  much  later  date.  The 
Conquistador  wrote  his  despatches  too  rapidly  and  concisely  to  give  heed  al- 
ways to  exact  time  and  circumstance.  We  are  quite  as  likely  to  find  them 
attended  to  in  the  long-winded,  gossiping, — inestimable  chronicle  of  Diaz. 

8^  "  Quarent  atorres  muy  altas  y  bien  obradas."  Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap. 
Lorenzana,  p.  105. 

^'^  "  Delante  de  todos  estos  altares  habia  bra9eros  que  todo  la  noche  har* 
dian,  y  en  las  salas  tambien  tenian  sus  fuegos."  Toribio,  Hist,  de  los  IndioSj 
MS.,  Parte  I,  cap.   12. 

^  Bernal  Diaz,  Ibid.,  ubi  supra. 

Toribio,  also,  notices  this  temple  with  the  same  complimentary  epithet. 

"  La  boca  hecha  como  de  infierno  y  en  ella  pintada  la  boca  de  una  terr»- 
erosa  Sierpe  con  terribles  colmillos  y  dientes,  y  en  algunas  de'estas  los  col- 
millos  eran  de  bulto,  que  verlo  y  entar  dentro  ponia  gran  temor  y  grima,  (.:■ 
especial  el  intierno  f|ue  esta!)a  en  Mexico,  que  parecia  trashulo  dcJ  verdadci-. 
iufijcrno."      Mi>t.  de  los  Indies,  MS.,  Parle  i,  can.  4. 


INTERIOR  SANCTUARIES.  ^x\ 

brutish  nature  of  their  religion.  This  was  a  pyramidal  mound 
or  tumulus,  having  a  complicaied  frame-work  of  tnuber  on  its 
broad  summit.  On  this  was  strung  an  immense  number  of 
human  skulls,  which  belonged  to  the  victims,  mostiv  prisoners 
of  war,  who  had  perished  on  the  accursed  stone  ot  sacrifice, 
one  oL  tiie  soldiers  had  iiie  patience  to  count  the  number  ,>f 
tl~-ese  ghastly  troplues,  and  reported  it  to  be  one  liuiidred  and 
thir:y->ix  thousand  1""  Belief  n.iiglit  wel!  be  staggered,  did  not 
tl;e  (,)id  World  present  a  wortliy  counterpart  in  tlie  p.vranii.la) 
Goigotii.is  which  commemorated  liic  triumpiis  of  Tameiianc."' 

i'here  v/ere  long  ranges  of  buildings  ni  liie  inclosure,  appro- 
priated as  ilie  residence  of  tiie  priests  and  oiiiers  engaged  in  tlie 
oiiices  of  religion.  Tl-iC  wljole  number  of  litem  was  said  to 
amount  to  several  thousand.  Here  were,  also,  the  principal 
seminaries  for  the  instruction  of  youth  of  both  sexes,  drr.wn 
chiefiy  from  the  higher  and  wealthier  classes.  The  girls  were 
taught  by  elderly  women  who  ofHciated  as  priestesses  in  ilie 
leniples,  a  custom  familiar,  also,  to  Egypt.  The  Spar.iards  ad- 
mit that  tiie  greatest  care  for  morals,  and  the  most  blameless  de- 
portment, were  maintained  in  these  institutions.  Tlie  time  of 
the  pupils  was  chieliy  occupied,  as  in  most  monastic  establish- 
ments, with  the  minute  and  burdensome  ceremonial  of  their  re- 
ligion. The  boys  were  like'svi^e  taught  such  elements  of  science 
as  were  known  to  their  teachers,  and  the  girls  initiated  in  the 
mysteries  of  embroidery  and  weaving,  wiiich  they  employed  in 
decorating  the  temples.  At  a  suitable  age  they  generally  went 
forth  into  the  world  to  assume  the  occupations  fitted  to  their 
condition,  though  some  remained  pernianently  devoted  to  tlie 
services  of  religioin.*' 

The  spot  was  also  covered  bv  edifices  o[  a  still  different  char> 
arter.  There  were  granaries  hlled  with  the  rich  produce  of  the 
rimrch-lands,  and  with  the  hrst-fruits  and  other  offerings  of  tlie 
tai-hful.     One  large  mansion  was  reserved  for  strangers  of  emi- 

•-»   }!crnal  Diaz,  ubi  supra. 

"  Andres  de  '1  apia,  que  inc  io  di;o,  \  Gcmyaio  d>j  L'n.il>ria.  las  contdrMii  vn 
Di'i.  i  lialianjii  cii,:nr.i)  j  tititUa  :  .-jcis  mil  Calaberas,  en  las  Vigar,,  i  (jradas." 
G'imara,  Cn'mica,  caj).  82. 

■■'  'l'liri-!j  Ci.dt.(,li^ai3.  i'ni:s  faiicit'id'v  rl:::p:i-ed.  of  tlic~e  irrintiin:'  horrrMs — 
in  ad  e^t.oof) — nro  nutii.'jd  by  Ciddion  :  (l)c(liiie  and  l-'a!!,  cd.  Milnian, 
v')i.  I.  p.  '~^i\  v')(  All.  \>.  45.)  A  I:u7opfan  scholar  coiuiii.-ii'is  "the  cou- 
:j'K_-.-f)r' ,   [>:■:'■■     id~i    ii.ii^ 'cration,   atid   .'i!s  justice"!       l^'owe's    Dedication   of 

'    :\vA': ,  V'.i        '-''•■    "x;!,  70. 

'i  ii .  d'.-irv  '  )■  '-utiiiL'  the  reader  with  a  conipletc  view  of  the  actual 
bt-itt:  )f  lac  ca[)  .  1  i.,r;tinic-  of  iis  occup  iti.  ,ii  by  tlie  S])aiiiards,  das  led 
ni':  ;i,  t'l's  ai.d  t:,  ;  i-i.fd'-':^  rli;ip(cr  into  a  tew  rcjjctitions  of  re. narks  on 
the  A/lci:  i.'istiuuio:;^  in  tl;':  1  nitoduttorv  iJuuk  of  this  HisHorv. 


41 6  RESIDENCE  nv  MEXICO. 

nence,  who  were  on  a  pilgrimage  to  the  great  teocalU.  The  irv 
closure  was  ornamented  with  gardens,  shaded  by  ancient  trees 
and  watered  by  fountains  and  reservoirs  from  the  copious 
streams  of  Chapoltepec.  The  little  community  was  thus  pro- 
vided with  almost  everything  requisite  for  its  own  maintenance, 
and  the  services  of  the  temple.^' 

It  was  a  microcosm  of  itself,  a  city  within  a  city;  and  accord- 
ing to  the  assertion  of  Cortds,  embraced  a  tract  of  ground  large 
enough  for  five  hundred  houses.^  It  presented  in  this  brief 
compass  the  extremes  of  barbarism,  blended  with  a  certain 
civilization,  altogether  characteristic  of  the  Aztecs.  The  rude 
Conquerors  saw  only  the  evidence  of  the  former.  In  the  fan- 
tastic and  symbolical  features  of  the  deities,  they  beheld  the 
literal  lineaments  of  Satan  ;  in  the  rites  and  frivolous  ceremonial, 
his  own  especial  code  of  damnation ;  and  in  the  modest  deport- 
ment and  careful  nurture  of  the  inmates  of  the  seminaries,  the 
snares  by  which  he  was  to  beguile  his  deluded  victims  \^  Be- 
fore a  century  had  elapsed,  the  descendants  of  these  same 
Spaniards  discerned  in  ihe  mysteries  of  the  Aztec  religion  the 
features,  obscured  and  defaced,  indeed,  of  the  Jewish  and  Chris- 
tian revelations  !  '^  Sucli  were  the  opposite  conclusions  of  the 
unlettered  soldier  and  of  tlie  scholar.  A  philosopher,  untouched 
by  superstition,  might  well  doubt  which  of  the  two  was  the  most 
extraordinary. 

The  sight  of  the  Indian  abominations  seems  to  have  kindled 
in  the  Spaniards  a  livelier  feeling  for  their  own  religion  ;  since, 
on  the  following  day,  they  asked  leave  of  Montezuma  to  convert 
one  of  the  halls  in  their  residence  into  a  chapel,  that  they  might 
celebrate  the  services  of  the  Church  there.  The  monarch,  in 
whose  bosom  the  feelings  of  resentment  seem  to  have  soon  sub- 
sided, easily  granted  their  request,  and  sent  some  of  his  own 
artisans  to  aid  them  in  the  work. 

While  it  was  in  progress,  some  of  the  Spaniards  obser'/ed  what 
appeared  to  be  a  door  recently  plastered  over.     It  was   u  com 
mon  rumor  that  Montezuma  still  kept  the  treasures  of  his  father, 
King   Axayacatl,   in    this    ancient  palace.     The  Spaniards,  ac- 
quainted with  this  fact,  felt  no  scruple  in  gratifying  their  curiosity 

^"^  Toribio,  Hist,  de  los  Indios,  MS.,  Parte  i,  cap.  12. — Gomara,  Cronica. 
cap.  80. — Rel.  d'un  gent.,  ap.  Ramusia,  torn.  III.  fol.  309. 

'^  "  Es  tan  grande  que  dentro  del  circuito  de  ella,  tjue  es  todo  cercado  J  -■ 
Muro  muy  alto,  se  podia  muy  bien  facer  una  Villa  de  qn.inientos  Vccinus." 
Rel.  Seg.,  ap.  Lorenzana,  p.  105. 

'^'^  "  Todas  estas  mugeres,'"  says  fatlier  Toribio,  "  estaban  aqui  sirviendM 
al  demonio  porsus  propiosintereses;  las  unas  porque  el  Denionio  las  hiciese 
modestas,"  etc.  Hist,  de  los  Indios,  MS.,  Parte  i,  cap.  9. 

■"  See  Appendix  Pari  i. 


SPANISH  Q  UA  R  TEKS.  4 1  y 

by  removing  the  plaster.  As  was  anticipated,  it  concealed  a 
door.  On  torciiig  this,  ihcy  found  the  rumor  was  no  exaggera- 
tion, riiey  beheld  a  large  hall  filled  with  rich  and  beautiful 
siutis,  aniclcs  of  curious  workmanship  of  various  kind.s,  golo.  and 
silver  in  bars  and  in  the  ore,  and  many  jewels  of  value.  It  was 
ihe  pii\  :iLc  board  of  Montezuma,  the  contributions,  il  may  be,  of 
tribuiary  cities,  and  once  the  property  of  his  faiiier.  "■  i  was  a 
young  man,"  says  Diaz,  who  was  one  of  those  that  obtained  a 
sight  of  ii,  "  and  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  all  the  riches  of  the  world 
were  in  that  room!''''  The  Spaniards,  notwithstanding  their 
elai;. 'u  ai  die  discovery  of  this  precious  deposit,  seem  to  have 
f-.:k  s  iuu!  coni.'uenda'oie  scruples  as  to  anpropiiating  it  to  their 
'./•■vn  asc. — ;it  least  lOi'  the  pveseiii.  And  Cortes,  after  closing 
up  tiie  ua'ii  as  ic  was  before,  gave  stnei  injuneiions  tiiat  notiiing 
siiou'.l  be  said  of  ilic  luatier,  uinvliling  iiia'  tlic  knowledge  of  its 
eAi:V.ei:ce  bv  his  gue^is  should  reach  the  cars  of  MoiUezuma. 

Tiirec  davs  suiiiccd  io  con"V|)lcie  tlitt  chapci  ;  and  the  Cliris- 
tians  IkkI  the  saiisfactl'jn  to  see  themselves  in  possession  of  a 
tC'iiple  where  ihev  might  worship  G  'd  in  their  own  vay,  under 
the  protection  of  the  (h'oss,  and  tlie  blessed  Vlrpan.  Mass  was 
regularly  performed  by  the  fathers  Obnedo  and  Dia/:,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  assembled  army,  wlio  wire  most  earnest  and  exem- 
plary in  their  devotions,  jiartly,  says  tlie  chronicler  above  quoted, 
from  the  propriety  of  the  thing,  and  partly  for  its  edifying  influ- 
ence on  tlie  benighted  heathen.^- 

■"  "  Y  luego  Io  sni'i'nvv;  cntre  todos  los  denias  Cap'i:;;ics.  '■  r oldados,  y  Io 
entr.imos  a  vt-r  muv  secretimente,  y  coiiio  y<>  Io  vi,  diffo  rnie  v.w,  admire,  i 
c(;!ii  )  en  atpicl  tienipo  era  mancelju,  y  no  aula  visto  en  mi  vitia  r:  |iiezas  couio 
:i':  i-Ij.is,  time  por  ci-.Tto,  (jii-j  eii  el  nuindo  no  deuicra  sii'^r  t;*;,is  tar.la»!" 
'lit.  cic  la  (J(jn([uista  cap.  93 

■■■  rivd,    Vy,.  ci^ 


^l8  RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO, 


CHAPTER  III. 

Anxiety  of  Cortes. — Seizure  of  Montezuma. — His  Treat- 
ment BY  the  Spaniards. — Execution  of  his  Officers. — ■ 
Montezuma  in  Irons. — Reflections. 

The  Spaniards  had  been  now  a  week  in  Mexico.  During  this 
time,  they  had  experienced  the  most  friendly  treatment  from  the 
emperor.  But  the  mind  of  Cortds  was  far  from  easy.  He  felt 
that  it  was  quite  uncertain  how  long  this  amiable  temper  would 
last.  A  hundred  circumstances  might  occur  to  change  it.  He 
might  very  naturally  feel  the  maintenance  of  so  large  a  body  toe 
burdensome  on  his  treasury.  The  people  of  the  capital  might 
become  dissatisfied  at  the  presence  of  so  numerous  an  armed 
force  within  their  walls.  Many  causes  of  disgust  might  arise 
betwixt  the  soldiers  and  the  citizens.  Indeed,  it  was  scarcely 
possible  that  a  rude,  licentious  soldiery,  like  the  Spaniards,  could 
be  long  kept  in  subjection  without  active  employment.^  The 
danger  was  even  greater  with  the  Tlascalans,  a  fierce  race  now 
brought  into  daily  contact  with  the  nation  who  held  them  in 
loathing  and  detestation.  Rumors  were  already  rife  among  the 
allies,  whether  well-founded  or  not,  of  murmurs  among  the 
Mexicans,  accompanied  by  menaces  of  raising  the  bridges.^ 

P>en  should  the  Spaniards  be  allowed  to  occupy  their  present 
quarters  unmolested,  it  was  not  advancing  the  great  object  of 
the  expedition.  Cortes  was  not  a  whit  nearer  gaining  the 
capital,  so  essential  to  his  meditated  subjugation  of  the  country,' 

*  "  Los  Espanoles,"  says  Cortes  fran!:lv.  of  his  countrymen,  "  somos  algo 
incomportables,  e  importunos."     Rel.  Seg.,  ap.  Lorenzana,  p.  84. 

-  Gomara,  Cronica,  cap.  S3. 

There  is  a  reason  to  doubt  the  truth  of  these  stories.  "  Segun  una  carta 
original  que  tengo  en  mi  pocler  firmada  de  las  tres  cabezas  de  la  Nueva 
Espana  en  donde  escriben  a  la  Magestad  del  Emperador  Nuestro  Seiior  (que 
Dios  tenga  en  su  Santo  Reyno)  disculpan  en  ella  d  Motecuhzoma  y  4  los 
Mexicanos  de  esro,  y  de  lo  demas  que  se  les  argullo,  que  lo  cierto  era  c|ue 
fu6  invencion  de  los  Tlascaltecas,  y  de  algunos  de  los  Espanoles  que  vcian 
la  hora  de  salirse  de  miedo  de  la  Ciudad,  y  poner  en  cobro  innumerahles 
riqsezas  que  habian  venido  a  sus  manos."  Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MiS., 
cap.  85. 


ANXIETY  OF  CORTES.  415 

and  any  day  he  might  receive  tidings  that  the  Crown,  or,  what  he 
most  feared,  the  governor  of  Cuba,  had  sent  a  force  of  superior 
strength  to  wrest  from  him  a  conquest  but  half  achieved.  Dis- 
turbed by  these  anxious  reflections,  he  resolved  to  extricate  him- 
self from  his  embarrassment  by  one  bold  stroke.  But  he  first 
submitted  the  affair  to  a  council  of  the  officers  in  whom  he  most 
confided,  desirous  to  divide  with  them  the  responsibility  of  the 
act,  and,  no  doubt,  to  interest  them  more  heartily  in  its  execu- 
tion, by  making  it  in  some  measure  the  result  of  their  combined 
judgments. 

When  the  general  had  briefly  stated  the  embarrassments  of 
their  position,  the  council  was  divided  in  opinion.  All  admitted 
the  necessity  of  some  instant  action.  One  party  were  for  retir- 
ing secretly  from  the  city,  and  getting  beyond  the  causeways 
before  their  march  could  be  intercepted.  Another  advised 
that  it  should  be  done  openly,  with  the  knowledge  of  the  em- 
peror, of  whose  good-will  they  had  had  so  many  proofs.  But 
both  these  measures  seemed  alike  impolitic.  A  retreat  under 
these  circumstances,  and  so  abruptly  made,  would  have  the  air 
of  a  flight.  It  would  be  construed  into  distrust  of  themselves  ; 
and  any  thing  like  timidity  on  their  part  would  be  sure  not  only 
to  bring  on  them  the  Mexicans,  but  the  contempt  of  their  allies, 
who  would,  doubtless,  join  in  the  general  cry. 

As  to  ^Montezuma,  what  reliance  could  they  place  on  the  pro- 
tection of  a  prince  so  recently  their  enemy,  and  who,  in  his 
altered  bearing,  must  have  taken  counsel  of  his  fears,  rather  than 
his  inclinations  ? 

Even  should  they  succeed  in  reaching  tl^e  coast,  their  situation 
would  be  little  better.  It  would  be  proclaiming  to  the  world, 
that,  after  all  their  lofty  vaunts,  they  were  unequal  to  the  enter- 
pri.-^e.  Their  only  hopes  of  their  sovereign's  favor,  and  of  par- 
don for  their  irregular  proceedings,  were  founded  on  succes-.. 
Hitherto,  they  had  only  made  the  discovery  of  Mexico;  to  il- 
treat  would  be  to  leave  conquest  and  the  fruits  of  it  to  anothc:. 
— In  short,  to  stay  and  to  retreat  seemed  equall}'  disastrous. 

In  this  perplexity,  Cortes  proposed  an  expedient,  which  none 
but  the  most  daring  spirit,  in  the  most  desperate  extremity,  would 
have  conceived.  This  was,  to  march  to  the  royal  palace,  and 
bring  Montezuma  to  the  Spanish  quarters,  by  fair  iiicans  if  they 
could  persuade  him,  by  force  if  necessary, — at  all  events,  to  get 
possession  of  his  person.  With  such  a  ]:)lc(ige,  the  Spaniards 
would  be  secure  from  tlie  assault  of  the  Mexicans,  afraid  by  acts 
of  violence  to  compromise  the  safety  of  their  prince.  If  became 
by  his  own  consent,  they  would  be  deprived  of  all  apology  for 
doing  so.     As  long  as  the  emperor  remained  among  the   Spani- 


42  o 


RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 


ards,  it  would  be  easy,  by  allowing  him  a  show  of  sovereignty, 

to  rule  m  his  name,  until  they  had  taken  measures  for  securing 
tbeir  safety,  and  the  success  of  their  enterprise.  The  idea  of 
em^:^'oying  a  sovereign  as  a  tool  for  the  government  of  his  own 
Kingdom,  if  a  new  one  in  the  age  of  Corte's,  is  certainly  not  so  in 
ours.^ 

A  plausible  pretext  for  the  seizure  of  the  hospitable  monarch — 
for  the  most  barefaced  aciion  seeks  to  veil  :"l:  elf  under  some  show 
of  decency — was  afforded  by  a  circumstance  of  which  Cortds  had 
received  intelligence  at  Choluia,-  He  had  left,  as  we  have  seen, 
a  faithful  officer,  Juan  de  Escalante,  with  a  hundred  and  fifty 
men  in  garrison  at  Vera  Cruz,  on  his  departure  for  the  capital. 
He  had  not  been  long  absent,  when  his  lieutenant  received  a 
message  from  an  Aztec  chief  named  Quauhpopoca,  governor  of 
a  district  to  the  north  of  the  Spanish  settlement,  declaring  his 
desire  to  come  in  person  and  tender  his  allegiance  to  the  Span- 
ish authorities  at  Vera  Cruz.  He  requested  that  four  of  the  white 
men  migiu  be  sent  to  protect  him  against  certain  unfriendly 
tribes  through  which  his  road  lay.  This  was  not  an  uncommon 
request  and  excited  no  suspicion  in  Escalante.  The  four  soldiers 
were  sea.:  ;  and  on  their  arrival  two  of  them  were  murdered  by 
the  false  Aztec.  The  other  two  made  their  way  back  to  the 
garrison.'' 

*  Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenfana,  p.  84. — Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich., 
MS.,  cap.  85. — P.  Martyr,  De  Orbe  Novo,  dec.  5,  cap.  3. — Oviedo,  Hist,  de 
las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  iZ->  ^^P-  ^• 

Bernal  Diaz  gives  a  very  different  report  of  this  matter.  According  to  him, 
a  number  of  officers  and  soldiers,  of  v.  horn  he  was  one^  suggested  the  capture 
of  Montezuma  to  the  general,  who  came  into  the  plan  with  hesitation.  (Hist. 
de  la  Co'.!  juista,  cap.  93.)  This  is  contrary  to  the  character  of  Cortes,  who 
was  a  man  to  lead,  not  to  be  led,  on  such  occasions.  It  is  contrary  to  the 
general  rep.irt  of  historians,  though  these,  it  must  be  confessed,  are  m.ainly 
built  on  the  general's  narrative.  It  is  contrary  to  anterior  prohabiiity;  since, 
if  the  coacejjtion  seems  almost  too  desperate  to  have  seriously  entered  into 
the  head  of  any  one  man,  how  much  more  improbable  is  it,  that  it  should 
have  originated  with  a  number!  Lastly,  it  is  contrary  to  the  positive 
written  statement  of  Cortes  to  the  Emperor,  publicly  known  and  circulated, 
confirmed  in  print  by  his  chaplain,  Gomara,  and  all  this  when  the  tiling  was 
fresh,  and  when  the  parties  interested  were  alive  to  contradict  it.  We  can- 
not Ijut  think  that  the  captain  lierc,  as  in  the  case  of  the  burning  oi  the  ships, 
a.-isumes  rather  more  for  himself  and  his  comrades,  than  the  facts  will  strictly 
warrant,  an  oversight,  for  which  the  lapse  of  half  a  century — to  say  nothing 
of  his  avowed  an.xiety  to  show  up  the  claims  of  the  latter — may  furnish  some 
apology. 

^  Even  Gomara  has  the  candor  to  stvle  it  a  *'  pretext  " — achaque  Cronica, 
caiv.  85, 

^  Betnal  Diaz  states  tlie  nifair,  also,  differentb;.  According  to  him,  the 
Aztec  governor  was  enforcing  the  oavment  cf  the  customary  tribul"  from  the 
Totonacs,  when  Lscaiant^,  interfering  to  prcect  his  a.Uicb,  now  subjects  of 


SEIZURE  OP  AfOA'TEZUAfA. 


421 


The  commander  marched  at  once  with  fifty  of  his  men  and  sev- 
eral thousand  Indian  allies  to  take  vengeance  on  the  cacique. 
A  pitched  battle  followed,  The  allies  fled  from  the  redoubted 
Mexicans.  The  few  Spaniards  stood  firm  and  with  the  aid  of 
their  fire-arms  and  the  blessed  Virgin  who  was  distinctly  seen 
hovering  over  their  ranks  in  the  van,  they  made  good  the  field 
against  the  enemy.  It  cost  them  dear,  however;  since  seven  or 
eight  Christians  were  slain,  and  among  them  the  gallant  Escalante 
himself  who  died  of  his  injuries  soon  after  his  return  to  the  fort. 
The  Indian  prisoners  captured  in  the  battle  spoke  of  the  whole 
proceeding  as  having  taken  place  at  the  instigation  of  Monte- 
zuma. One  of  the  Spaniards  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  natives, 
but  soon  after  perished  of  his  wounds.  His  head  was  cut  off  and 
sent  to  the  Aztec  emperor.  It  was  uncommonly  large  and  covered 
with  hair;  and,  as  Montezuma  gazed  on  the  ferocious  features, 
rendered  more  horrible  by  death,  he  seemed  to  read  in  them  the 
dark  lineaments  of  the  destined  destroyers  of  his  house.  He 
turned  from  it  with  a  shudder  and  commanded  that  it  should  be 
taken  from  the  city,  and  not  offered  at  the  shrine  of  any  of  his  gods. 

Although  Cortds  had  received  intelligence  of  this  disaster  at 
Cholula,  he  had  concealed  it  wiihin  his  own  breast,  or  commu- 
nicated it  to  very  few  only  of  his  most  trusty  officers,  from  appre- 
hension of  the  ill  effect  it  might  have  on  the  spirits  of  the  com- 
mon soldiers. 

The  cavaHers  whom  Cortds  now  summoned  to  the  council  were 
men  of  the  same  mettle  with  their  leader.  Their  bold,  chiv^ 
alrous  spirits  seemed  to  court  danger  for  its  own  sake.  If  one 
or  two,  less  adventurous,  were  startled  by  the  proposal  he  made, 
they  were  soon  overruled  by  the  others,  who,  no  doubt,  consid- 
ered that  a  desperate  disease  required  as  desperate  a  remedy. 

That  night,  Cortes  was  heard  pacing  his  apartment  to  and  fro, 
like  a  man  oppressed  by  thought,  or  agitated  by  strong  emotion. 
He    may  have   been  ripening  in    his  mind  the  daring  scheme 

Spain,  was  slain  in  an  action  with  the  enemy.  (Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap, 
93. )  Cortes  iiad  the  best  means  of  knowing  the  facts,  and  wrote  at  the  time, 
lie  does  not  usually  shrink  from  avowing  his  policy,  however  severe,  to- 
wards the  natives  ;  and  I  have  thought  it  fair  to  give  him  the  benefit  of  his 
own  version  of  tiie  story. 

*  Oviedo,  Hist,  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  ^^t^,  cap,  5. — Rel.  Scg.  de  Cortes,  ap. 
Lorenzana,  pp.  83,  84. 

The  apparition  of  the  Virgin  was  seen  only  by  tlie  .Aztecs,  who,  it  is  true 
had  to  make  out  the  best  case  for  their  defeat  they  could  to  Montezuma  ;  a 
susyiicious  circumstance,  which,  however,  did  not  stagger  the  Sp.miards. 
"  Y  ciertamente,  todos,  los  soldadm  <|ue  passanios  con  ('ortes  tenemos  muy 
£reido,  e  assf  es  \''Tfl:ul,  ijue  la  nii-^rrirordia  diuiiia,  v  N'ut-.^tta  Senoi.i  l* 
Virgen  Mari'i  >::i:iprc  era  con  nijbotroa.''  Berual  Diaz,  lli.1t,  i.lc  la  (an 
^uistA,  cap.  >>4.. 


422 


RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO, 


for  the  raorrow.7  In  the  morning  the  soldiers  heard  mass  as  usual, 
and  f:.:aer  Olmedo  invoked  the  blessing  of  Heaven  on  their 
hazardous  enterprise.  Whatever  might  be  the  cause  in  which 
he  was  embarked,  the  heart  of  the  Spaniard  was  cheered  with 
the  convictio;]  that  the  Saints  were  on  his  side  !  ^ 

Having  asked  an  audience  from  Montezuma,  which  was 
readily  granted,  the  general  made  the  necessary  arrangements 
for  his  enterprise.  The  principal  part  of  his  force  was  drawn  up 
in  the  courtyard,  and  he  stationed  a  considerable  detachment  in 
the  avenues  leading  lo  the  palace,  to  check  any  attempt  at  rescue 
by  tlie  populace.  He  ordered  twenty-five  or  thirty  of  the  soldiers 
to  drop  in  at  the  palace,  as  if  by  accident,  in  groups  of  three  or 
four  at  a  lime,  while  the  conference  was  going  on  with  Monte- 
zuma, He  selected  five  cavaliers,  in  whose  courage  and  coolness 
he  placed  most  trust,  to  bear  him  company ;  Pedro  de  Alvarado, 
Gonzalo  de  Sandoval,  Francisco  de  Lr.jo,  Velasquez  de  Leon, 
and  Alonso  de  Avila, — brilliant  names  in  the  annals  of  the  Con- 
q'.iest.  All  vrere  clad,  as  well  as  the  ccmmon  soldiers,  in  com- 
plete armor,  a  circumstance  of  too  familiar  occurrence  to  excite 
suspicion. 

The  li::le  jjarty  were  graciously  received  b}-  the  emperor,  v.ho 
soon,  with  tlie  aid  of  the  interpreters,  becauie  interested  in  a 
sportive  conversation  with  the  Spaniards,  while  he  indulged  his 
i.:ttural  munificence  by  giving  them  presents  of  gold  and  jewels. 
He  paid  the  Spanish  general  the  particular  compliment  of  offering 
h'.;n  one  of  his  daughters  as  his  wife;  an  honor  which  the  latter 
respectfully  declined,  on  the  ground  that  he  was  already  accom- 
modated with  one  in  Cuba,  and  that  his  religion  forbade  a  plurality. 

When  Carte's  perceived  that  a  sufficient  number  of  his  soldiers 
were  assembled,  he  changed  his  playful  manner,  and  with  a 
serious  tone  briefly  acquainted  Montezuma  with  the  treacherous 
proceedings  in  the  tierra  caliente,  and  the  accusation  of  him  as 
their  author.  The  emperor  listened  to  the  charge  with  surprise; 
and  disavowed  the  act,  which  he  said  could  only  have  been 
imputed  to  him  by  his  enemies.  Cortds  expressed  his  belief  in 
his  declaration,  but  added,  that,  to  prove  it  true,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  send  for  Quauhpopoca,  and  his  accom]):ices,  that 
they  might  be  examined  and  dealt  with  according  to  their  deserts. 
To  this  Montezuma  made  no  objection.      Taking  from  his  wrist, 

'  "  Paseose  vn  sran  rato  solo,  cuidadoso  de  aquel  gran  hecho,  que  em- 
preiiclia,  i  que  auti  a  el  mesmo  le  parccia  temerario,  pero  necesario  para  su 
mteiito,  andando."     Gomara,  Cnjiiica,  cap,  83. 

■'  iJiftz  says,  ilicv  were  at  jjrayer  all  ni;:!it.  "  Toda  la  no^:he  estnuimos  en 
oracion  con  el  T^adre  de  la  Merced,  rogando  a  Uios  que  fuesse  ae  tal  nijdt»> 
que  redundasse  para  su  santo  servicio."     Hist,  de  la  Coaquista.,  oap,  95. 


SEIZURE  OF  MONTEZUMA.  ^23 

to  which  it  was  attached,  a  precious  stone,  the  royal  signet,  on 
which  was  cut  the  figure  of  the  War-god,^  he  gave  it  to  one  of 
his  nobles,  with  orders  to  show  it  to  the  Aztec  governor,  and 
required  his  instant  presence  in  the  capital,  together  with  all 
those  who  had  been  accessory  to  the  murder  of  the  Spaniards.  If 
he  resisted,  the  officer  was  empowered  to  call  in  the  aid  of  the 
neighboring  towns,  to  enforce  the  mandate. 

When  the  messenger  had  gone,  Cortds  assured  the  monarch 
that  this  prompt  compliance  with  his  request  convinced  him  of 
his  innocence.  But  it  was  important  that  his  own  sovereign 
should  be  equally  convinced  of  it.  Nothing  would  promote  this 
so  nmch  as  for  Montezuma  to  transfer  his  residence  to  the  palace 
occupied  by  the  Spaniards,  still  on  the  arrival  of  Quauhpopoca 
the  affair  could  be  fully  investigated.  Such  an  act  of  condescen- 
sion would,  of  itself,  show  a  personal  regard  for  the  Spaniards, 
incompatible  with  the  base  conduct  alleged  against  him,  and 
would  fully  absolve  him  from  all  suspicion  ! " 

Montezuma  listened  to  this  proposal,  and  the  flimsy  reasoning 
with  which  it  was  covered,  with  looks  of  profound  amazement. 
He  became  pale  as  death  ;  but  in  a  moment,  his  face  flushed 
with  resentment,  as,  with  the  pride  of  offended  dignity  he 
exclaimed.  "  When  was  it  ever  heard  that  a  great  prince,  like 
myself,  voluntarily  left  his  own  palace  to  become  a  prisoner  in 
in  the  hands  of  strangers!  " 

Cortes  assured  him  he  would  not  go  as  a  prisoner.  He 
would  experience  nothing  but  respectful  treatment  from  the 
Spaniards;  would  be  surrounded  by  his  own  household,  and  hold 
intercourse  with  his  people  as  usual.  In  short,  it  would  be  but 
a  change  of  residence,  from  one  of  his  palaces  to  another,  a  cir- 
cumstance of  frequent  occurrence  with  him. — It  was  in  vain. 
*'  If  I  should  consent  to  such  a  degradation,"  he  answered,"  my 
subjects  never  would!  "  ^"^  When  further  pressed,  he  offered  to  give 
up  one  of  his  sons  and  of  his  daughters  to  remain  as  hostages 
with  the  Spaniards,  so  that  he  might  be  spared  this  disgrace. 

Two  hours  passed  in  this  fruitless  discussion,  till  a  high-mettled 
cavalier,  Valasquez  de  Leon,  impatient  of  the  long  delay,  and 
seeing  that  the  attempt,  if  not  the  deed,  must  ruin  tliem.  cried 
out,  "Why  do  we  waste  words  on  this  barbarian.!*  We  have 
gone  too  far  to  recede  now.     Let  us  seize  him,  and,  if  he  resists, 

•  According  to  Ixtlilxochitl,  it  was  his  nsvn  portrait.  "  Se  c]iiiti>  del  lu.i/.T 
una  rica  picdra,  doiide  esta  esculpidc)  su  rij,tro  (ijue  era  lo  nii^ni'i  ipic  uii 
•elio  Real)."     Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  85. 

^'   Rfl.  Se^.  de  Cortes   a]),  l.orenzana,  p.  86. 

"  "Quan!')  [o  1',  consiiitiera,  losmios-  no  pasariaii  por  eilo."     I.xtIi!.x(;riiiU 
Hisl.  (Jl;:.:;.,  .NIS.,  cap.  85. 


^24  RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 

plunge  our    swords    into    his    body!"^     The  fierce    tone    and 

menacing,  with  which  this  was  uttered,  alarmed  the  monarch, 
who  inquired  of  Marina  what  the  angry  Spaniard  said.  The 
interpreter  explained  it  in  as  gentle  a  manner  as  she  could, 
beseeching  him  "to  accompany  ihe  white  men  to  their  quarters, 
where  he  would  be  treated  v.'iih  all  respect  and  kindness,  while 
to  refuse  them  would  but  expose  himself  to  violence,  perhaps  to 
death."  Marina,  doubtless,  spoke  to  her  sovereign  as  she 
thought,  and  no  one  had  better  opportunity  of  knowing  the 
truth  than  herself. 

Tnis  last  appeal  shook  the  resolution  of  Montezuma.  It  was 
in  vain  that  the  uniiappy  prince  looked  around  for  sympathy  or 
support.  As  his  eyes  waadered  over  the  stern  visages  and  iron 
forms  of  the  Spaniards,  he  felt  that  his  hour  was  indeed  come  ; 
and,  with  a  voice  scarcely  audible  from  emotion  he  consented 
to  accompany  the  strangers, — to  quit  the  palace,  whither  he  was 
never  more  to  return.  Had  he  possessed  the  spirit  of  the  first 
Montezuma,  he  would  have  called  his  guards  around  him,  and  left 
his  life  blood  on  the  threshold  sooner  than  have  been  dragged  a 
dishonored  captive  across  ii.  But  his  courage  sunk  under 
circamstances.  He  felt  he  was  the  instrument  of  an  irresistible 
Fare  !  '^ 

No  sooner  had  the  Spaniards  got  his  consent,  than  orders  were 
given  for  the  royal  litter.  Th  i  nobles,  who  bore  and  attended 
it,  could  scarcely  believe  their  senses,  v/hen  they  learned  their 
master's  purpose.  But  pride  now  came  to  Montezuma's  aid,  and, 
since  he  must  go,  he  preferred  tliat  i:  should  appear  to  be  with 
his  own  free  will.  As  the  royal  retinue,  escorted  by  the  Span- 
iards, marched  through  the  street  with  downcast  eyes  and  dejected 
mien,  the  people  assembled  in  crowds,  and  a  rumor  ran  among 
then,  that  the  emperor  was  carried  oft  by  force  to  the  quarters 
of  the  white  men.     A  tumult  would  have  soon  arisen  but  for  the 

1'^  "  j'Quc  haze  v.  m.  ya  con  taiitas  pal;; bras  ?  C)  le  lleuemos  jireso,  6  le 
daremos  de  estocadad.  ])or  esso  tornadle  a  dezir,  que  si  da  vozcs,  o  haze 
ailioroto,  (|no  Ic  matareis.  porque  mas  vale  que  desta  vcii  aascgurenios  nues- 
tras  '.ivlas,  6  las  perdan.os.'"     Iji.mal  Diaz,  Hist,  clc  la  CoiK[uist:i,  cap.  95. 

■'■'*  (■)viedo  has  some  doubts  whether  Montezuma's  coiiduct  is  to  be  viewed 
as  pusillaiiimous  or  as  prudem.  "  Al  coronista  le  parcce,  scf^un  lo  que  se 
puecle  colegir  de  est  1  materia,  cnie  jNIoutezuma  era,  o  luui  fa'to  de  aniiao, 
0  jjusilanimo,  nmi  prudente,  auncjue  en  muchas  cosas,  los  que  le  vieron  lo 
lOan  de  mui  seiiur  y  mui  liberal;  yen  sus  razonamientos  mostraba  ser  de 
buen  juicio."  lie  strikes  the  balance,  however,  in  favor  of  i?usillaniniity. 
*'  Un  Principe  tan  grande  como  Montezuma  no  se  habia  de  dexar  incurrir  en 
tales  terminos,  ni  consentir  ser  deteiiido  de  tan  ]ioco  m'unerci  de  I'lsjiaiioles, 
ni  de  otra  generacion  alguna  ;  mas  c  )mo  Dios  tiene  ordenado  lo  que  ha  de 
ser,  ninguno  puede  huir  de  su,  inicio."  Hist,  de  las  Ind.,  M.S.,  lib.  33 
eap.  d, 


HIS  TREATMENT  BY  THE  SPANIARDS. 


425 


intervention  of  Montezuma  himself  who  called  out  to  the  people 
to  disperse,  as  lie  was  visiting  his  friends  of  his  own  accord ; 
thus  sealing  his  ignominy  by  a  declaration  which  deprived  his 
subjects  of  the  only  excuse  for  resistance.  On  reaching  the 
quarters,  he  sent  out  his  nobles  with  similar  assurances  to  the 
mob,  and  renewed  orders  to  return  to  their  horacb.!-* 

He  was  received  with  ostentatious  respect  by  the  Spaniards, 
and  selecLcd  liie  suite  of  apartments  which  best  pleased  him. 
They  were  soon  furnished  with  fine  cotton  taijestries,  feather- 
w  Tk,  and  all  the  elegancies  of  Indian  upholstery.  He  was 
aii-nded  by  such  of  his  household  as  he  chose,  his  wives  and  his 
pages,  and  was  served  wltii  ins  usual  pomp  and  luxury  at  his 
me.'^.Is.  II'-'  _,.ive  audience,  as  in  his  own  palace,  to  his  subjects, 
w'.'.j  were  a.;  .;t:ed  to  iiis  presence,  few,  indeed,  at  a  time,  under 
tr.e  prei'jv'.  of  c; re. Iter  order  and  decorum.  From  the  Spaniards 
i:;j:nse!vcs  lie  met  with  a  formal  defererice.  No  one,  not  even 
t!ie  general  h'.uiscif,  approaclied  him  without  doffing  his  casque, 
a:  d  rendering  iiie  obeisance  due  to  his  rank.  Nor  did  they  ever 
sit  \\\  '.:is  presence,  without  being  in\iicd  L'v  hini  to  do  so.^"' 

Vv'iih  ail  this  studied  ceremony  and  slinw  of  homage,  there 
v.:.-  one  circuinstance  which  too  clearly  proclaimed  to  his  people 
tii;i:  their  su\ereign  was  a  prisoner.  Ip.  the  front  of  the  palace 
a  ipairol  of  six:y  men  was  established,  and  the  same  number  in 
the  rear.  T-.s-enty  of  each  corps  mountt;d  gnard  at  or.ce.;  main- 
ta'ning  a  careful  watch,  day  and  night. '■''  Another  bi-ily,  under 
coannand  of  Velasquez  de  Leon,  was  staiicv/icd  in.  the  lo'yal 
ano.'chamber.  Cortes  punlsiicd  any  di.[),.:r;'.;rj  fi-'j.ii  duty,  or 
rd  ;";xaLi(;n  of  vigilance,  in  the:,e  sentinols,  willi  ;.ie  nt.nost 
S'j\ 'jr;\\-.-'  }  ie  foil,  as,  inde<o;.  e\'er}-  S  .;n;ar'd  must  h..\\'  tek, 
thit  tiie  escape  of  theempoo-or  o,-o  '..ould  be  their  rnin.  Yet 
the  ta-ii:  of  ims  uninoorniii ;  nig  vvaich  surely  addled  to  their 
fatigue.-^.      '■  Letter  tnis  dog  01  a  king  bhoulu  dio  '"  c^'ol  a  soldier 

'•^  The  ;-:orv  of  tlie  seizure  of  Montezuma  niav  be  touiui.  wjh  the  ■  uni 
fii-iocpancic-  in  tin:  deuiii-i.  in  Rci.  Sc,;.  '.^  (_,i.jitcjs,  aj\  Luicii/;.,n,i,  ;., 
8^1.-  j'iertia!  Diaz,  lii.3t  de  ia  Connuista,  o  j).  95, — Ixtlilxochitl.  J!i--t.  Ci/cu., 
M-- .  cap.  85. — CJvieuo,  lii.-t  dii  la-.  Ir.d.,  A! S..  lili.  33,  cap.  i.. —( ;(  '.lara. 
'.:  ;.:.;a,  ::,-,/.  Sj,  —  Jiciicra,  ili.-t.  C; 'iiLral,  dec.  Z,  lib,  <S,  cap.  ;:,  j.— .\1  ..rtyr, 
Jj'j  ''iriie  X'.'vn,  doc.   c    caf).  3. 

'■J  "  Si'-mTV^  que  ri:,'c  el  jia-^auam'js,  v  ;  'r.-jjue  tue^se  Cistes,  le  fji;iiaua- 
XV,   s  Ins  honcle.s  de  anna-  6  ca.^ci,-,,  qu.,  .-uinpte  cstauanios  arni.nlos,  y  ci  nos 

!;  o^a  jran  tnf>ura,  \  I'.nnr  i  ;i  tedos i '';.'o  cjue  iiu  se  <■  ;i!auan  C'drtes, 

If'  nin^un  ("apit.iu,  hah'a  -iiie  el  Mn)ite(,uiiiri  !i-n  ii.andnia  Vi  .\-  s;is  assenta- 
d' r';s  r-co-.  y  les  niar.dc.a  ^i.-scnl.r."  LieriMi  iJia.',  ili>i.  d.j  la  Conquista; 
ra|).  9'5,  100. 

'    llcrrera,  Hist.  Gener;...  ■     .    .,  lib.  h\  cap.  3. 

'■  '  )n  one  u'_  \^\r,x\.  U-.x'-'-  -  ineis,  \\\:  ,  ictt  tiiiir  prst  wiihout  orders,  ^^cre 
<((»■■•■ -ic'ri  tori;;t  tiie  g.tnl Ct, — a  puni.->hiiie]it  iiule  biiorl  of  deatii.  lijitL 
n'.A  ^,:^pra. 


436  RESIDEXCE  IN  MEXICO. 

one  day,  "  than  that  we  should  wear  out  our  lives  in  this  manner." 
The  words  were  uttered  in  the  hearing  of  Montezuma,  who 
gathered  something  of  their  import,  and  the  offender  was 
severely  chastised  by  order  of  the  general."  Such  instances  of 
disrespect,  however,  were  very  rare.  Indeed,  the  amiable 
deportment  of  the  monarch,  who  seemed  to  take  pleasure  in  the 
society  of  his  jailers,  and  who  never  allowed  a  favor  or  at 
tention  from  the  meanest  soldier  to  go  unrequited,  inspired  the 
Spaniards  with  as  much  attachment  as  they  were  capable  of 
feeling — for  a  barbarian. 

Things  were  in  this  posture,  when  the  arrival  of  Quauhpopoca 
from  the  coast  was  announced.  He  was  accompanied  by  his 
son  and  fifteen  Aztec  chiefs.  He  had  travelled  all  the  way, 
borne,  as  became  his  high  rank,  in  a  litter.  On  entering 
Montezuma's  presence,  he  threw  over  his  dress  the  coarse  robe 
of  nequen,  and  made  the  usual  humiliating  acts  of  obeisance. 
The  poor  parade  of  courtly  ceremony  was  the  more  striking, 
when  placed  in  contrast  with  the  actual  condition  of  the 
parties. 

The  Aztec  governor  was  coldly  received  by  his  master,  who 
referred  the  affair  (had  he  the  power  to  do  otherwise  .'' i  to  the 
examination  of  Cone's.  It  was,  doubtless,  conducted  in  a 
sulBciently  summary  manner.  To  the  general's  query,  whether 
the  cacique  was  the  subject  of  IVfontezuma,  he  replied,  "And 
what  other  sovereign  could  I  serve  ?  "  implying  that  his  sway  was 
universal.-^*  He  did  not  deny  his  share  in  the  transaction,  nor 
did  he  seek  to  shelter  himself  under  the  royal  authority,  till  sen- 
tence of  death  was  passed  on  him  and  his  followers,  when  they  all 
laid  the  blame  of  their  proceedings  on  Montezuma.®  They  were 
condemned  to  be  burnt  alive  in  the  area  before  the  palace.  The 
funeral  piles  were  made  of  heaps  of  arrows,  javelins,  and  other 
■weapons,  drawn  by  the  emperor's  permission  from  the  arsenals 
round  the  great  teocalli,  where  they  had  been  stored  to  supply 
HiCans  of  defence  in  times  of  civic  tumult  or  insurrection.  By 
this  politic  precaution,  Corte's  proposed  to  remove  a  ready 
means  of  annoyance  in  case  of  hostilities  with  the  citizens. 
To  crown  the  whole  of  these  extraordinary  proceedings,  Cone's, 

1^  Bernal  Diaz,  Hist  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  97. 

19  -•  Y  despues  que  confesaron  haber  muerto  los  Espanoles,  le^j  hice  inter- 
rogar  si  ellos  eran  Vasalles  de  Muteczuma :  Y  el  dicho  Qualpopoca  res- 
pondio,  que  si  habia  otro  Senor,  de  quien  pudiesse  serlo  ?  casi  diciendo,  que 
no  habia  otro,  y  que  si  eran."  Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  Loienzana.  p.  87. 

*  "  E  assimismo  les  pregunte,  si  lo  q';.  r'".i  se  habia  hecho  si  habia  sido 
poe  su  mandado  ?  y  dijeron  que  no  aunque  despues,  al  tiempo  que  en  ellos 
se  executo  la  sentencia,  que  fuessen  quemados,  todos  a  una  voz  dijeron,  que 
era  verdad  que  el  dicho  Muteczuma  se  lo  habia  embiado  a  mandar,  y  qua 
por  su  mandado  lo  habian  hecho."  Ibid.,  loc.  cit. 


MONTEZUMA  IN  IRONS. 


42* 


while  preparations  for  the  execution  -were  going  on,  entered  the 

emperor's  apartment,  atiended  by  a  soldier  bearing  fetters  in 
his  hands.  With  a  severe  aspect,  lie  charged  the  monarch  with 
being  the  original  contriver  of  the  violence  oiTcrecl  lo  the  Span- 
iards, as  was  nov,-  proved  by  the  declaration  of  nis  own  Instru- 
ments. Such  a  crime,  which  mcnied  death  in  a  subject,  could 
not  be  atoned  for,  even  by  a  sovereign,  without  some  punishment. 
So  sax'in!::,  he  ordered  the  sokiier  to  fasten  the  fetters  on  "Mon- 
tezuma's ankles.  He  coolly  waited  till  it  was  done  ;  then,  turning 
his  hack  on  the  monarch,  quilted  the  room, 

Montezuma  was  speechle:  s  under  the  infliction  of  this  last  in- 
sult. He  was  like  one  struck  down  by  a  heavy  blow,  that  deprives 
him  of  all  his  faculties.  He  olfered  no  resistance.  But,  though 
he  spoke  not  a  word.  low,  ill-snppressed  moans,  from  time  to  time, 
intimated  the  anguish  of  his  spirit.  His  attendants,  bathed  in 
tears,  offered  him  their  consolations.  Thev  tenderly  held  his  feet 
in  their  arms,  and  endeavored,  by  inserting  their  shawls  and  man- 
tles, to  relieve  them  from  the  pressure  o't  the  iron.  But  they 
could  not  reach  the  iron  which  had  penetrated  into  his  soul. 
He  felt  that  he  was  no  more  a  king. 

Meanwhile,  the  execution  of  the  dteadful  doom  was  going  for- 
ward in  the  courtyard.  The  whole  Soani^li  force  v^'as  under  arms, 
to  check  any  interruption  that  might  be  offered  by  tlte  Mexicans. 
But  none  was  attemp'ied.  The  populace  gazed  in  silent  wonder, 
regarding  it  as  the  sentence  of  the  emperor.  The  manner  of  the 
exL-cution,  too  excited  less  surprise,  from  thi-i'-  familiarity  wi-h 
sii-;;iar  soectacles,  aggtavated.  indeed,  by  additiinia!  horrors,  'a 
th'lr  own  diabolical  sacriiices.  The  Aztec  lord  and  his  com- 
panions •  bound  hand  and  foot  to  ilie  bl.nzing  piles,  submitted 
without  a  crv  or  a  complain:  to  their  terrible  fate.  Passi.e  foi' 
titude  !-^the  virtue  of  the  Indian  warrior;  and  \'.  \vas  tlie  giory  ot 
the  Aztec,  as  of  the  other  races  on  the  North  A'nerican  continent, 
to  siiow  how  the  siiirit  of  the  brave  man  may  triumph  over  torture 
ar.cl  the  agonies  of  death. 

'A'lum  the  dismal  tragedy  was  ended,  Cor'c's  rdn;ered  Mon^.e- 
7urfi:i's  a[,'artment.  Kneeling  down,  he  imclasjX'd  Lis  shackles 
•■vi'ii  hi^  own  han.i  <,-x]"'rcssing  at  the  s:an;e  tim^-  ins  regret  that  so 
li' ■  :._;'"c^-a:)ie  u  tiuf,'  a.-  ill  n  of  suldectiiig  him  to  -v.cl.  a  !a:ii:,]v 
'n'  'I*  h.a'i  been  nnpose,.'  on  him.  Tliisl.ist  inc^igniiy  had  eittir'.;ly 
c:i;:ihed  the  s[)irit  of  Mcjutezuma;  and  the  monarch,  whose  frown, 
1.  it  a  week  since,  would  have  made  the  nations  ot  Anahn.ic  trem- 
b!e  to  tiieir  remotest  borders,  was  now  craven  enough  to  thank 
\--\-  deliverer  for  Ins  freedom,  as  for  a  great  and  unmerited  boon.^ 

-'  Gom.irn,  CroTiica.  c:i|i  89. —  Oviodo.  Hist,  de  las  Iiid.,MS^  '''•'■  33' 
cap.  6.  —  licrn;il   Oia^,  lli-i.    ie  la  ('(jiiquista,  c.ip.  95 


428 


RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 


Not  long  after,  the  Spanish  general,  conceiving  that  his  royal 
captive  was  sufficiently  humbled,  expressed  his  willingness  that 
he  should  return,  if  he  inclined,  to  his  own  palace.  Montezuma 
declined  it ;  alleging,  it  is  said,  that  his  nobles  had  more  than 
once  importuned  him  to  resent  his  injuries  by  taking  arms  against 
the  Spaniards;  and  that,  were  he  in  the  midst  of  them,  it  would 
be  difficult  to  avoid  it,  or  to  save  his  capital  from  bloodshed  and 
anarchy."'"  The  reason  did  honor  to  his  heart,  if  it  was  the  one 
which  influenced  him.  It  is  probable  that  he  did  not  care  to  trust 
his  safety  to  those  haughty  and  ferocious  chieftains,  who  had 
witnessed  the  degradation  of  their  master,  and  must  despise  his 
pusillanimity,  as  a  thing  unprecedented  in  an  Aztec  monarch. 
It  is  also  said,  that,  when  Marina  conveyed  to  him  the  permi  sion 
of  Cortes,  the  other  interpreter,  Aguilar,  gave  him  to  understand 
the  Spanish  officers  never  would  consent  that  he  should  avail 
himself  of  it.-^ 

Whatever  were  his  reasons,  it  is  certain  that  he  declined  the 
ofTer  ;  and  the  general,  in  a  well  feigned,  or  real  ecstasy,  embraced 
him,  declaring,  "  that  he  loved  him  as  a  brother,  and  that  every 
Spaniard  would  be  zealously  devoted  to  his  interests,  since  he 
had  shown  himself  so  mindful  of  theirs  ! "  Honeyed  words, 
"which,"  says  the  shrewd  old  chronicler  who  was  present,  Monte- 
zum    was  wise  enough  to  know  the  worth  of." 

The  events  recorded  in  this  chapter  are  certainly  some  of  the 
most  extraordinary  on  the  page  of  history.  That  a  small  body 
of  men,  like  the  Spaniards,  should  have  entered  the  palace  of  a 
mighty  prince,  have  seized  his  person  in  the  midst  of  his  vassals, 

have  borne  him  ofif  a  captive  to  their  quarters, that  they  should 

have  put  to  an  ignominious  death  before  his  face  his  high  officers, 
for  executing,  probably,  his  own  commands,  and  have  crowned 
the  whole  by  putting  the  monarch  in  irons  like  a  common  male- 
factor,  that  this    should  have    been  done,  not  to  a  drivelling 

dotard  in  the  decay  of  his  fortunes,  but  to  a  proud  monarch  in 
the  plentitude  of  his  power,  in  the  very  heart  of  his  capital,  sur- 
rounded by  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands,  who  trembled  at 
his  nod,  and  would  have  poured  out  their  blood  like  water  in  his 
defence, — that  all  this  should  have  been  done  by  a  mere  handful 

One  may  doubt  whether  pity  or  contempt  predominates  in  Martyr's  notice 
of  this  event.  "  Infelix  tunc  Muteczumo  re  adeo  noua  perculsus,  formidine 
repletur,  decidit  animo,  neque  iam  erigere  caput  audet,  aut  suorum  aaxilia 
implorare.  Ille  vero  poenam  se  meruisse  fassus  est,  vti  agnus  mitis.  ^cuo 
animo  pati  videtur  has  regulas  grammaticalibus  duriores,  imberbibus  pueris 
uictatas,  omnia  placidc  fert,  ne  seditio  ciuium  et  procerum  oriatur  "  De 
Orbe  Novo,  dec.  5,  cap.  3. 

'^'-  Rei.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  I./ireiizana,  p.  88. 

*  Eernal  Diaz,  Ibid.,  ubi  .>upra. 


REFLECTIONS. 


439 


of  adventurers,  is  a  thing  too  extravafant,  altogether  too  improb> 
able,  for  the  pages  of  romance  !  li  is,  nevertheless,  literally 
true.  Yet  we  shall  not  be  prepared  to  acquiesce  in  the  judgments 
of  conteinporai'ies  who  ri.-garded  these  acts  with  p.diniration. 
We  may  well  distrust  any  grounds  on  which  it  is  aiiempred  to 
jl,^.tity  the  kicin  ippiiig  Ol  a  f;iendl\-  sovereign, — b\-  those  very 
per. .on?,  too.  \v';j  were  reaping  the  fu:l  bunelii  of  his  favors. 

Tr.  viev,"  \\\c  tnatter  d;:TcrcnLiy,  we  must  take  the  poidtion  of 
Th:  ('o:u  uer  ■•^,  anri  r.^'-'nne  w^;h  iheni  the  original  right  of  con- 
rj'.ie-;!.  R',  ■.^ar-l-  d  JrT:r.  this  point  of  \'ie\v,  nian.v  diuiculiies  van- 
::ii,  If  c.jnqu- ,t  v.ere  a  uLiL}-,  whatever  w  a.-^  nuccs^-ar}"  to  effect 
U  was  light  als').  R'ght  and  exjiedior:i  beconie  con\eriible 
teruis.  And  ii  can  harJly  be  dciiied,  tl;at  tiic  cap:iire  of  the 
ironau  h  was  cxnedieiit;  if  t!;e  Spaniards;  ■,vv:uld  nuuuLain  :heir 
!i'-M  -'n  'he  enijnre.^ 

'\'\\Q.  execution  of  the  Axtec  governor  suggests  other  consicle* 
rat:c'ns.  If  he  were  really  gc.iiiy  of  the  j^eiiidious  aci  i.nputed 
10 'dm  l>y  Co;tes  and  if  ^[onteznma  ciisavowed  it,  the  governor 
deserved  death,  and  tlie  general  was  justiileci  by  the  la/.'  of 
Ttations  in  ialiicting  i:.""*  It  is  by  no  means  so  clear,  iio.vever.  why 
he  should  h.ave  invoi\-ed  so  many  in  tiiissenier.ee;  na.cs;,  p.eriiaps 
a'.],  of  w!'0!n  m-.-st  h.a'/e  acted  under  his  anoaori'o/.  The  cruel 
manner  of  die  dea.'.h  wi'l  less  startle  tiiose  who  are  familiar  with 
tlic  established  penal  codes  in  most  civilized  nations  in  the  six- 
teenth century. 

i^:t,  if  tlie  gn-ernor  deserved  deatii,  wha*"  pretence  was  there 
f  'r  the  outrageon  the  [>;rson  of  Moatezmna  ?  If  the  former 
was  guilty,  the  latter  surely  v;as  nor.  But.  if  the  cacique  only 
ar  te(i  in  f)bcdience  to  orders,  tlie  responsibility  wa-  t;ans!erred 
t  .'  iiie  sovereign  who  ga\'e  the  orders.  They  could  not  both  stand 
in  the  same  category. 

It  is  vara,  however,  to  reason  on  tiie  mtitter,  on  anv  abstract 
provrip.ies  of  right  and  wrong,  or  to  su;>pose  that  the  (Conquerors 
troubled  themselves  with  the  rehnern.ents  of  cas'iistry.  Their 
utandard  of  right  and  wrotpg,  in  rcd'erenco  to  the  natives,  v.as  a 
verv  simple  one.  Despising  them  a.-,  an  oatlawedi  rare,  w  bout 
Ciod  \\\  tlie  vv'orld,  tnev,  m   common  with    their  age,  Jieid    i;  to  be 

^'  Archbishop  I  .nrr-nzaiir?.  r.s  l.-Ue  ris  tlie  clo'c  m'  rlic  li^t  rcnturv.  finds 
)  '  ;  r~-  r;[,t!in-  u:irr  i;,t  for  \\v  i^n  K.c.dini-  '•''  rl.t-  Fpnniiinls.  •-  \v'-  uraiicle 
;.:'i'.-;H  .a,  v  Ar'"  nie'i:,i  halie;  :.  euiuadn  n  il  l-jup  a  ndi  ".  p^:ii|iie  sino 
a  il>ar\  fx|'iies!iis  1  Ifrnaii  Cj'.rti'-,  v  -ii--  S'T'ItIo-  a  iiirr,,r,i  trri\\-:nii.  v 
••  :  ■•:i!lo  sciMiro  a  (;1  I'aiijK  racior  st- a-.'L'iii  .'i.:,  a  si  nv-nv.  iiiirs  los  llsiiafidles 
:  .  -.  •■niifen;  iie'crarri' iir(  :  ffiiiai'ie'^  fu'-  :ti:ii  rtn,  \  --.  a  iirriuii'ii)  p.ir  haherse 
c    ■  a-i'V)  (!e  Tri-a    ai."'       Ke'.    t-    ■'.     '     (..,-■'-     p.   "U.   ni.ta. 

•^'•0  f:iiTr:at.r].  !  1-   1  mi  l-  \,:  ■  .,1  ■:  .'t    <  ;<  iitiuni.  lib.   8.    cap.    6.  sec\   to.- 
'':'  a!  a     1  -iw  .'(   Naiaa-.   ;■  .(A    :       '     ■  .  t  ,  -cc.    M'- 


430 


RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 


their  "  mission  "  (to  borrow  the  cant   phrase  of  our  own  day)  to 

conquer  and  to  convert.  The  measures  they  adopted  certainly 
faciUtated  the  first  great  work  of  conquest.  By  the  execution 
of  the  caciques,  they  struck  terror  not  only  into  the  capital,  but 
throughout  the  country.  It  proclaimed  that  not  a  hair  of  a 
Spaniard  was  to  be  touched  with  impunity !  By  rendering  Monte- 
zuma contemptible  in  his  own  eyes  and  those  of  his  subjects, 
Cortds  deprived  him  of  the  support  of  his  people,  and  forced 
him  to  lean  on  the  arm  of  the  stranger.  It  was  a  politic  proceed- 
ing, —  to  which  few  men  could  have  been  equal,  who  had  a  touch 
of  humanity  in  their  natures. 

A  good  criterion  of  the  moral  sense  of  the  actors  in  these 
events  is  afforded  by  the  reflections  of  Bernal  Diaz,  made  some 
fifty  years,  it  will  be  remembered,  after  the  events  themselves, 
when  the  fire  of  youth  had  become  extinct,  and  the  eye,  glancing 
back  through  the  vista  of  half  a  century,  might  be  supposed  to 
be  unclouded  by  the  passions  and  prejudices  which  throw  their 
mist  over  the  present.  "  Now  that  I  am  an  old  man,"  says  the 
veteran,  "  I  often  entertain  myself  with  calling  to  mind  the  hero 
ical  deeds  of  early  days,  till  they  are  as  fresh  as  the  events  of 
yesterday.  I  think  of  thes  eizure  of  the  Indian  monarch,  his 
confinement  in  irons,  and  the  execution  of  his  officers,  till  all 
these  things  seem  actually  passing  before  me.  And,  as  I  ponder 
on  our  exploits,  I  feel  that  it  was  not  of  ourselves  that  we  per- 
formed them,  but  that  it  was  the  providence  of  God  which  guided 
us.  Much  food  is  there  here  for  meditation  !"  *^  There  is  so, 
mdeed,  and  for  a  meditation  not  unpleasing,  as  we  reflect  on  the 
advance,  in  speculative  morality,  at  least,  which  the  nineteenth 
century  has  made  over  the  sixteenth.  But  should  not  the 
consciousness  of  this  teach  us  charity.''  Should  it  not  make  us 
the  more  distrustful  of  applying  the  standard  of  the  present  to 
measure  the  actions  of  the  past  ? 

*  "  Osar  quemar  sus  Capitanes  delante  de  sus  Palacios,  y  echalle  grilios 
enlre  tanto  que  se  hazia  la  Jusiicia,  que  muchas  vezes  aora  que  soy  viejo 
me  paro  d  considerar  las  cosas  heroicas  que  en  aquel  tiempo  passamos,  que 
me  parece  las  veo  presentes  :  Y  digo  que  nuestros  hechos,  que  uo  los  hazia- 

inos  nosotros,  sino  que  venian  todos  encamiuados  por  Dios Porque 

ay  mucho  que  ponderar  en  eilo."     Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  95. 


MONTE Z  UMA  'S  DF.POR  TMEN  T. 


43* 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Montezuma's  Deportment. — His  Life  in  the  Spanish  Quar- 
ters.— Meditated  Insurrection. — Lord  of  Tezcuco  seized. 
— -Further  Measures  of  Cortes. 


The  settlement  of  La  Villa  Rica  de  Vera  Cruz  was  of  the 
last  importance  to  the  Spaniards.  It  was  the  port  by  which  they 
were  to  communicate  with  Spain,  the  strong  post  on  which  they 
were  to  retreat  in  case  ot  disaster,  and  which  was  to  bribe  their 
enemies  and  give  security  to  their  allies  ;  the  point  d'  appui  for 
all  their  operations  in  the  country.  It  was  of  great  moment, 
therefore,  that  the  care  of  it  should  be  intrusted  to  proper 
hands. 

A  cavalier,  named  Alonso  de  Grado,  had  been  sent  by  Cortes 
to  take  the  place  made  vacant  by  the  death  of  Escalante.  He 
was  a  person  of  greater  repute  in  civil  than  military  matters,  and 
would  be  more  likely,  it  was  thought,  to  maintain  peaceful  rela- 
tions with  the  natives,  than  a  person  of  more  belligercit  spiri;. 
Cortes  made — what  was  rare  with  him — a  bad  choice.  He  soon 
received  such  accounts  of  troubles  in  the  settlement  fiom  the 
exactions  and  negligence  of  the  new  governor,  that  he  resolved  1 1 
supersede  him. 

He  now  gave  the  command  to  Gonzalo  de  Sandoval,  a  young 
cavalier,  who  had  displayed,  through  the  whole  campaign  sin- 
gular intrepidity  united  with  sagacity  and  discretion  ;  while 
the  good-humor  with  which  he  bore  every  privation,  and  his  affable 
manners,  made  him  a  favorite  with  all,  privates,  as  well  as  officers, 
Sandoval  accordingly  left  the  camp  for  the  coast.  Cones  did  not 
mistake  his  man  a  second  time. 

Notwithstanding  the  actual  control  exercised  by  the  Spaniards 
through  their  royal  captive,  Cortes  felt  some  uneasiness,  when  he 
reflected  that  it  was  in  the  power  of  the  Indians,  at  any  time,  to 
cut  off  his  communications  with  the  surrounding  country,  ami 
hold  him  a  prisoner  m  the  capital.  He  proposed,  therefore,  to 
build  two  vessels  of  sufiicient  size  to  transport  his  forces  across 
the   lake,  and  thus  to  render  himself  independent  of  the  cause- 


43' 


RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 


ways.  Montezuma  was  pleased  with  the  idea  of  seeing  those 
wonderful,  "water-houses,"  of  which  he  had  heard  so  much,  and, 
T'^adily  gave  permission  to  have  the  timber  in  the  royal  forests 
felled  for  the  purpose.  The  work  was  placed  under  the  direction 
of  Martin  Lopez,  an  experienced  ship-builder.  Orders  were  also 
given  to  Sandoval  to  send  up  from  the  coast  a  supply  of  cordage, 
sails,  iron,  and  other  necessary  materials,  which  had  been 
judiciously  saved  on  the  destruction  of  the  fleet.^ 

The  Aztec  emperor,  meanwhile,  was  passing  his  days  in  the 
Spanish  quarters  in  no  very  different  manner  from  what  he  had 
been  accusiomed  to  in  his  own  palace.  His  keepers  were  too  well 
aware  of  ihe  value  of  their  prize,  not  to  do  everytliing  which 
could  make  his  captivity  comfortable,  and  disguise  it  from  him- 
self. But  the  chain  will  gall,  though  wreathed  with  roses.  After 
Montezuma's  breakfast,  which  was  a  light  meal  of  fruits  or  veg- 
etables, Corids  or  some  of  his  ofhcers  usually  waited  on  him, 
to  learn  if  he  had  any  commands  for  them.  He  then  devoted 
some  time  to  business.  He  gave  audience  to  those  of  his  subjects 
who  had  petitions  to  prefer,  or  suits  to  settle.  The  statement  of 
the  party  was  drawn  upon  the  hieroglyphic  scrolls  vhich  were 
submitted  to  a  number  of  counsellors  or  judges,  who  assisted  him 
v.ith  their  advice  on  these  occasions.  Envoys  from  foreign  states 
or  his  own  remote  provinces  and  cities  were  also  admitted,  and 
the  Spaniards  were  careful  that  the  same  precise  and  punctilious 
etiquette  should  be  maintained  towards  the  royal  puppet  as  when 
in  the  plenitude  of  his  authority. 

After  business  was  dispatched,  Montezuma  often  amused  him- 
self with  seeing  the  ('astilian  tror)p<--  go  through  their  military  exer- 
cises. He,  too,  had  been  a  soldier,  and  in  his  prouder  days  had 
led  armies  in  the  field.  It  was  very  natural  he  should  take  an  in- 
terest in  the  novel  display  of  European  tactics  and  discipline. 
A.t  ether  tim.es,  he  would  challenge  Cortes  or  his  officers  to  play 
at  some  of  the  ranonal  games.  A  favorite  one  was  called  toto- 
loq7(c%  played  with  golden  balls  aimed  at  a  target  or  mark  of  the 
same  metal.  Montezuma  usually  staked  something  of  v?lue, — pre- 
cious stones  or  ingots  of  gold.  He  lost  with  good-humor  ;  indeed, 
it  was  of  little  consequence  whether  he  \^on  or  lo?',  since  he 
generally  gave  away  his  winnings  to  his  attendants."-^  He  had,  in 
truth,  a  most  munificent  spirit.  His  enemies  accused  him  of 
avarice.  But,  if  he  v/ere  avaricious,  it  could  have  been  only  that 
he  might  liave  the  more  vogive  away. 

Each  of  the  Spaniards  had  several  Mexicans,  male  and  female, 
«iho    attended  to  his  cooVing  and  various  other  personal  olticea. 

'  Beriui!  Diaz.  Hist    de  ]a  Conquista,  cap.  96. 
'  Ibid.,  cap.  97. 


HIS  LIFE    IN  SPANISH  QUARTERS  433 

Cortes,  considering  that  the  maintenance  of  this  host  of  menials, 
was  a  heavy  tax  on  the  royal  exchequer,  ordered  them  to  be  dis- 
missed excepting  one  to  be  retained  for  each  soldier.  Monte- 
zuma,  on  learning  this,  pleasantly  remonstrated  with  the  general 
on  his  careful  economy,  as  unbecoming  a  royal  establishment, 
and,  countermanding  the  order,  caused  additional  accommoda- 
tions to  be  provided  for  the  attendants,  and  their  pay  to  be 
doubled. 

On  another  occasion  a  soldier  purloined  some  trinkets  of  gold 
from  the  treasure  kept  in  the  chamber,  which,  since  Montezuma's 
arrival  in  the  Spanish  quarters,  had  been  reopened.  Cortds 
would  have  punished  the  man  for  the  theft,  but  the  emperor  in- 
terfering said  to  him,  "  Your  countrymen  are  welcome  to  the  gold 
and  other  articles,  if  you  will  but  spare  those  belonging  to  the 
gods."  Some  of  the  soldiers,  making  the  most  of  his  permission, 
carried  off  several  hundred  loads  of  fine  cotton  to  their  quarters. 
When  this  was  represented  to  Montezuma,  he  only  replied, 
"What  I  have  once  given,  I  never  take  back  again." « 

While  thus  indifferent  to  his  treasures,  he  was  keenly  sensitive 
to  personal  slight  or  insult.  When  a  common  soldier  once  spoke 
to  him  angrily,  the  tears  came  into  the  monarch's  eyes,  as  it  made 
him  feel  the  true  character  of  his  impotent  condition.  Cortes,  on 
becoming  acquainted  with  it,  was  so  much  incensed,  that  ha 
ordered  the  soldier  to  be  hanged  ;  but,  on  Montezuma's  inter- 
cession, commuted  this  severe  sentence  for  a  flogging,  'i'he 
general  was  not  willing  that  any  one  but  himself  should  treat  his 
royal  captive  with  indignity.  Montezuma  was  desired  to  procure 
a  further  mitigation  of  the  punishment.  But  he  refused,  saying, 
"  that,  if  a  similar  insult  had  been  offered  by  any  one  of  his  sub- 
jects to  ^^alinche,  he  would  have  resented  it  in  like  manner."  * 

Such  instances  of  disrespect  were  very  rare.  Montezuma's 
amiable  and  inoffensive  manners,  together  wiih  his  liberality, 
the  most  popular  of  virtues  with  the  vulgar,  made  him  generally 
beloved  by  the  Spaniards.*  The  arrogance,  for  wiiich  he  had 
been  so  distinguished  in  his  prosperous  days,  deserted  him  in 
his  fallen  fortunes.  His  character  in  captivity  seems  to  have 
undergone  something  of  that  change  which  takes  place  in  the 
wild  animals  of  the  forest;  when  caged  within  the  walls  of  the 
menagerie. 

'I'he  Indian  monarch  knew  the  name  of  every  man  in  the  army, 

'  r;omara,  Cronica,  cap.  84.  —  Ilerrcra,  Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  8,  cap   4. 

*  Ibid.,  dec.  2,  lib.  8,  cap.  5. 

' '■  En  esto  era  tan  \->w\  ininio,  '|ue  todos  le  queriamos  con  gran  amor, 
porque  verdaderamente  era  gran  senor  en  todas  la.s  cosas  que  le  viamo« 
kazer."     Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  100. 


434 


RESIDEXCE  IN  MEXICO. 


and  was  careful  to  discriminate  his  proper  rank.*^  For  some  he 
showed  a  strong  partiality.  He  obtained  from  the  general  a 
favorite  page,  named  Orteguilla,  who,  being  in  constant  attend- 
ance on  his  person,  soon  learned  enough  of  the  Mexican  language 
to  be  of  use  to  his  countrymen.  Montezuma  took  great  pleasure, 
also,  in  the  society  of  Velasquez  de  Leon,  the  captain  of  his 
guard,  and  Pedro  de  Alvarado,  Tonatiuh,ox '■'•  \.\iQ.  Sun,"  as  he 
was  ca;-cv  bv  the  Aztecs,  from  his  yellow  hair  and  sunny  coun- 
tenance, i  lie  sunshine,  as  -events  afterwards  showed,  could 
somcnmes  be  the  prelude  tc  a  terrible  tempest. 

Notwithstanding  the  care  taken  to  cheat  him  of  the  tedium  of 
captivity,  the  royal  prisoner  cast  a  wistful  glance,  now  and  then, 
beyond  the  walls  of  his  residence  to  the  ancient  haunts  of  busi- 
ness or  pleasure.  He  intimated  a  desire  to  offer  up  his  devotions 
at  the  greet  temple,  where  he  wa:  once  so  constant  in  his  wor- 
sh;o.  The  suggestion  startled  Cortes.  It  was  too  reasonable, 
however,  for  him  to  object  to  it,  without  wholly  discarding  the 
appearances  which  he  was  desirous  to  maintain.  But  he  secured 
Montezuma's  return  by  sending  an  escort  with  him  of  a  hundred 
and  fifty  soldiers  under  the  same  resolute  cavaliers  who  had  aided 
in  his  seizure.  He  told  him,  also,  that,  in  case  of  any  attempt 
to  escape,  his  life  would  instantly  pay  the  forfeit.  Thus  guarded, 
the  Indian  prince  visited  the  teocalli^  where  he  was  received  with 
the  usual  state,  and,  after  performing  his  devotions,  he  returned 
again  to  his  quarters^ 

It  may  well  be  believed  that  the  Spaniards  did  not  neglect  the 
opportunity  afforded  by  his  residence  with  them,  of  instilling  into 
him  some  notions  of  the  Christian  doctrine.  Fathers  Diaz  and 
Olmedo  exhausted  all  their  battery  of  logic  and  persuasion,  to 
shake  his  faith  in  his  idols,  but  in  vain.  He,  indeed,  paid  a 
most  edifying  attention,  which  gave  promise  of  better  things. 
But  the  conferences  always  closed  with  the  declaration,  that  "the 
God  of  the  Christians  was  good,  but  the  gods  of  his  own  country 
were  the  true  gods  for  him."  ^  It  is  said,  however,  they  extorted 
a  promise  from  him,  that  he  would  take  part  in  no  more  human 
sacrifices.  Yet  such  sacrifices  were  of  daily  occurrence  in  the 
great   temples  of  the  capital ;   and  the   people  were  too    blindly 


*  •*  y  e!  bien  conocia  a  todos,  y  sabia  nuestros  nombres,  y  aun calidades,  y 
era  tan  bueiio,  que  a  todos  nos  daua  joyas,  d  otros  man:as  e  Indias  hermo 
sas."     Ibid. ,  cap.  97, 

'  I  hid.,  cap.  98. 

■*  According  to  Soils,  th;  Devil  closed  his  heart  against  these  good  men  ; 
thmigh,  in  the  historian's  opinion,  there  is  no  evidence  that  this  evil  coun- 
sellor actually  appeared  and  conversed  with  Montezuma,  after  the  SpaTjiarde 
h*d  displayed  the  Cross  in  Mexico.     Conquista,  lib.  3,  cap.  20. 


MEDITATED  IXSURRECTTON:  435 

attached  to  their  bloody  abominations,  for  the  Spaniards  to  deem 
it  safe,  for  the  present  at  least,  openly  to  interfere. 

Montezuma  showed,  also,  an  inclination  to  engage  in  the 
pleasures  of  the  chase,  of  which  he  once  was  immoderately  fond. 
He  had  large  forests  reserved  for  the  purpose  on  the  other  side 
of  the  lake.  As  the  Spanish  brigantines  were  now  completed, 
Cortes  proposed  to  transport  him  and  his  suite  across  the  water 
in  them.  They  were  of  a  good  size,  strongly  built,  the  largest 
was  mounted  with  four  falconets,  or  small  guns.  It  was  protected 
by  a  gayly-colored  awning  stretched  over  the  deck,  and  the  royal 
ensign  of  Castile  floated  proudly  from  the  mast.  On  board  of 
this  vessel,  Montezuma,  delighted  with  the  opportunity  of  witness- 
ing the  nautical  skill  of  the  white  men,  embarked  with  a  train  of 
Aztec  nobles  and  a  numerous  guard  of  Spaniards.  A  fresh  breeze 
played  on  the  waters,  and  the  vessel  soon  left  behind  it  the 
swarms  of  light  pirogues  which  darkened  their  surface.  She 
seemed  like  a  thing  of  life  in  the  eyes  of  the  astonished  natives, 
who  saw  her,  as  if  disdaining  human  agency,  sweeping  by  wita 
snowy  pinions  as  if  on  the  wings  of  the  wind,  while  the  thunders 
from  her  sides,  now  for  the  first  time  breaking  on  the  silence  of 
this  "  inland  sea,"  showed  that  the  beautiful  phantom  was  clothed 
in  terror,^ 

The  royal  chase  was  well  stocked  with  game  ;  some  of  which 
the  emperor  shot  with  arrows,  and  others  were  driven  by  the 
numerous  attendants  into  nets.^"  In  these  woodland  exercises, 
while  he  ranged  over  his  wild  domain,  Montezuma  seemed  to 
enjoy  again  the  sweets  of  liberty.  It  was  but  the  shadow  of 
liberty,  however ;  as  in  his  quarters,  at  home,  he  enjoyed  btit 
the  shadow  of  royalty.  At  home  or  abroad,  the  e\e  of  the 
Spaniard  was  always  upon  him. 

But  while  he  resigned  himself  without  a  struggle  to  his  inglori- 
ous fate,  there  were  oth.ers  who  looked  on  it  with  very  different 
emotions.  Among  them  was  his  nephew,  Cacama,  lord  of 
Tezcuco,  a  young  man  not  more  than  twenty-tive  years  of  ago, 
but  who  enjoyed  great  consideration  from  his  h'lgli  jiersona! 
qualities,  especially  his  intrepidity  of  character,  lie  was  ths- 
same  prince  who  had  been  sent  by  Montezuma  to  welcome  'he 
Spaniartls  on  their  entrance  into  the  Valley  ;  and,  when  ;iie 
question  of  their  reception  was  first  (l(jbate<i  in  the  council,  h,e 
had  advised  to  admit  them  honorabh'  as  ambassadors  of  a  foreign 

*  Bcrnal  Diaz,    Hist    de   la   Conrlui^r.^.   cap.     99.  —  Rrl  Scg  (!e   Corlcs   ap 
Lorenzana,  j).  8S. 

''He  sometimes  killed  his  game  witli  a  tu!)e,  a  sort  of  air-gun,  throtipij 
which  he  blew  little  balls  at  birds  and  rabbits.  "  I, a  Cai^a  a  (|\ie  Montc(,-uni.i 
iba  por  la  Laguna,  era  a.  tirar  a  I'AJaros,  i  a  Concjfjs,  con  Cobratana,  dc  1* 
qual  era  diestro."     Herrera,  fli^t.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  8,  cap  4. 


436  RE:SIDENCE  in  MEXICO. 

prince,  and,  if  they  should  prove  different  from  what  they 
pretended,  it  would  be  time  enougli  then  to  take  up  arms  against 
them.     That  time,  he  thought,  had  now  come. 

In  a  former  part  of  this  work,  the  reader  has  been  made 
acquainted  with  the  ancient  history  of  the  Acoihuan  or  Tezcucan 
monarchy,  once  the  proud  rival  of  the  Aztec  in  power,  and 
greatly  its  superior  in  civilization,'^  Under  its  last  sovereigOi 
NezahualpiUl,  its  territory  is  said  to  have  been  grievously  clipped 
by  the  insidious  practices  of  Montezuma,  who  fomented  dissen- 
sions and  insubordination  among  his  subjects.  On  the  death  of 
the  Tezcucan  prince,  the  succession  was  contested,  and  a  bloody 
war  ensued  between  his  eldest  son,  Cacama,  and  an  ambitious 
younger  brother,  Ixtlilxochitl.  This  was  followed  by  a  partition 
of  the  kingdom,  in  which  the  latter  chieftain  held  the  mountain 
districts  north  of  the  capital,  leaving  the  residue  to  Cacama. 
Though  shorn  of  a  large  part  of  his  hereditary  domain,  the  city 
was  itself  so  important,  that  the  lord  of  Tezcuco  still  held  a 
high  raiik  among  the  petty  princes  of  the  Valley.  His  capital, 
at  the  time  of  the  Conquest,  contained,  according  to  Cortes,  a 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  inhabitants,^^  It  was  embellished 
with  noble  buildings,  rivalling  tlicse  of  Mexico  itself,  and  the 
ruins  siill  to  be  met  with  on  its  a  icient  site  af.est  that  it  was 
once  the  abode  of  princes.^* 

The  young  Tezcucan  chief  beheld,  with  indignation,  and  no 
slight  contempt;  the  abject  condition  of  his  uncle,  Jle  endeav- 
ored to  rouse  him  to  manly  exertioi,,  but  in  vain.  He  then  set 
about  forming  a  league  with  several  of  the  neighboring  caciques 
to  rescue  his  kinsman,  and  to  break  the  detested  yoke  of  the 
strangers.     He  cal!cd  on  the  lord  of  Iztapalapan,  Montezuma's 

"  Ante,  Book  T.  Chap.  6. 

12  '  E  lldma.se  esla  Ciudad  Tezcuco,  y  scrci  cle  hasta  treinta  mil  Vecinos." 
|Rcl.  Scg.,  ap.  I,orenzana,  p.  94.)  According  1,o  the  licentiate  Zuazo, 
double  that  number, — sesenta  mil  Vecinos.  (Carta,  MS, )  Scarcely  probable, 
as  Mexico  had  no  tn'.ire.  Toribio  speaks  of  it  as  covering  a  league  one  way 
by  six  another!  {Hist,  de  los  Indios,  MS,,  Parte  3,  cap,  7,)  This  musl 
include  the  environs  to  a  considerable  extent.  The  language  of  the  (^lil 
chroniclers  is  not  the  most  precise. 

1-^  A  description  of  the  capital  in  its  glory  is  thus  given  by  an  eye-witness. 
"  Esta  Ciudad  era  la  segnnda  cosa  princi])al  de  la  lierra,  y  asi  habia  en 
Tezcuco  muy  grandes  edificios  de  templos  del  Demonio,  y  muy  gentiles  casas 
y  aposentos  de  Senores,  entre  los  cuales,  fue  muy  cosa  de  ver  Ja  casa  deJ 
Senor  principal,  asl  la  vieja  con  su  huer  ta  cercada  de  mas  de  mil  cedros 
miiy  grandes  y  muy  hermosos.  de  los  cuales  hoy  dia  estan  los  mas  en  pie, 
aupque  la  casa  esta  asolada,  otra  casa  tenia  que  se  podia  aposentar  en  ella 
un  egercito,  con  muchos  iardines,  y  un  muy  grande  estanque,  que  por  debajo 
de  tierra  solian  entrar  a  el  con  barcas."  (Toribio,  Hist,  de  los  Indios,  MS., 
Parte  3,  cap.  7. )  The  last  relics  of  this  palace  were  employed  in  the  fortifr 
nations  of  tne  cJLV  in  the  revolutionary  war  of  1810.     {Ixtlilxochitl,  Venida 


MEDITATED  INSURRECTION.  ^^7 

brother,  the  lord  of  Tlacopan,  and  some  oihcrs  of  most  authority 
all  of  whom  entered  heartily  into  his  views.  He  then  urged  the 
Aitec  nobles  to  join  them,  but  they  expressed  an  unwilling- 
ness to  take  any  step  not  first  sanctioned  by  the  emperor.^ 
They  entertained,  undoubtedly,  a  profound  reverence  for  their 
master  ;  but  it  seems  probable  that  jealousy  of  the  personal  views 
of  Cacama  had  its  inriuence  on  their  determination.  Whatever 
were  their  motives,  it  is  certain,  that,  by  this  refusal,  they 
relinquished  the  best  opportunity  ever  presented  for  retrieving 
their  sovereign's  independence,  and  their  own. 

These  intrigues  could  not  be  conducted  so  secretly  as  not  to 
reach  the  ears  of  Cortds,  who,  with  his  characteristic  promptness, 
would  have  marched  at  once  on  Tezcuco,  and  trodden  out  the 
spark  of  "  rebellion,"  '*  before  it  had  time  to  burstinto  a  flame. 
But  from  this  he  was  dissuaded  by  Montezuma,  who  represenicd 
that  Cacama  was  a  man  of  resolution,  backed  by  a  powerful  force, 
and  not  to  be  put  down  without  a  desperate  struggle.  He 
consented,  therefore,  to  negotiate,  and  sent  a  message  of  amica- 
ble expostulation  to  the  cacique.  Me  received  a  haughty  answer 
in  return.  Cortds  rejoined  in  a  more  menacing  tone,  asserting 
the  supremacy  of  his  own  sovereign,  the  emperor  of  Castile. 
To  this  Cacama  replied,  "  lie  acknowledged  no  such  authority  ; 
he  knew  nothing  of  the  Spanish  sovereign  nor  his  people,  nor 
did  he  wish  to  know  anything  of   thern."-^"     Montezuma  was  not 

de  los  Esp.,  p.  78.  nota. )  Tezcnco  is  now  an  insignificant  little  place,  with 
a  ])opulaiion  of  a  few  thousand  inhabitants.  Its  architectural  remains,  as 
still  to  be  discerned,  seem  to  have  made  a  stronger  impression  on  Mr.  Bui- 
lock  than  on  most  travellers.     .Six  Months   in  Mexico,  chap.  27. 

•'^  "Cacama  rcjirehendio  asperamente  a  la  Nobleza  Mexicana  por(|ue  con- 
seiuia  hacer  semejantes  desacatos  a  quatro  Estrangeros  y  que  no  les  mataban 
se  escusaban  con  decirles  les  iban  a  la  mano  y  no  ies  conscnlian  tomar  las 
Armas  para  libertarlo,  y  tomar  si  una  tan  gran  deslionra  como  era  la  que  los 
Estrangeros  les  habian  hecho  en  prendcr  a  sn  seiiur,  y  queniar  a  Quauhpo- 
pfx:;itzin,  los  demas  siis  llijos  y  Deudos  sin  culpa,  con  las  Armas  v  Municion 
que  tenian  para  la  defenza  y  guarda  de  la  ciudad,  y  de  su  aut()ri(hul  tomar 
para  SI  los  tesoros  del  Key  y  de  los  Dioses  y  otras  libertades  y  dt  ^vcrguenzas 
que  cada  dia  pasaban,  y  aunque  todo  esto  vehian  lo  disiniulaban  por  no 
enojar  i  Morecuhzoma  que  tan  amigu  y  casado  esiaba  con  ellos.''  Ixtlilxo- 
chitl,  Hist.  Chicli.,  MS.,  cap.  86. 

'''  It  is  the  language  of  Cortes.  "  Y  esta  seiior  jc  rebelS,  assi  contra  el 
Bcrvicio  de  Vuestra  Alteza,  d  quien  se  habia  ofrecido,  como  contra  el  dicho 
Muteczuma."  Rcl.  Scg.,  ap.  Lorcnzana,  p.  95. — Voltaire,  with  his  quick 
•ye  for  the  ridiculous,  notices  this  arrogance  in  his  tragedy  of  Alzire. 

X u  vojg  de  ces  tyrans  la  fureur  despntique  : 
I!s  |>ensent  que  i>our  eux  le  Ciel  fit  I'Amdrique, 
(^lu'ils  en  »ont  c<^»  lei  Rois  ;  et  Zamore  ik  leurs  rcux, 
lout  souTcrain  qu'il  fut,  n'est  qu'un  s^ditieux.' 

AuiRC,  Act  4^ac.  ^ 
*•  Gomara,  Cronica,  cap.  01. 
Moxic.  19  Vol.  1 


^^8  RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 

more  successful  in  his  application  to  Cacama  to  come  to  Mexico^ 
and  allow  him  to  mediate  his  differences  with  the  Spaniards,  with 
whom  he  assured  the  prince  he  was  residing  as  a  friend.  But 
the  young  lord  of  Tezcuco  was  not  to  be  so  duped.  He  under- 
stood the  position  of  his  uncle,  and  replied,  "that,  when  he  did  visit 
his  capital  it  would  be  to  rescue  it,  as  well  as  the  emperor  him- 
self, and  their  common  gods,  from  bondage.  He  should  come, 
not  with  his  hand  in  his  bosom,  ..ut  on  his  sword, — to  drive 
out  the  detested  strangers  who  had  brought  such  dishonor  on 
their  country  !  "  " 

Cortds,  incensed  at  this  tone  of  defiance,  would  again  have  put 
himself  in  motion  to  punish  it,  but  Montezuma  interposed  with 
bis  more  politic  arts.  He  had  several  of  the  Tezcucan  nobles, 
he  said,  in  his  pay  ;  ^*  and  it  would  be  easy,  through  their  means, 
to  secure  Cacama's  person,  and  thus  br»ak  up  the  confederacy, 
at  once,  without  bloodshed.  The  maintaining  of  a  corps  of 
stipendiaries  in  the  courts  of  neighboring  princes  was  a  refine- 
ment which  showed  that  the  Western  barbarian  understood  the 
science  of  political  intrigue,  as  well  as  some  of  his  royal  brethren 
on  the  other  side  of  the  water. 

By  the  contrivance  of  these  faithless  nobles,  Cacama  was  in- 
duced to  hold  a  conference,  relative  to  the  proposed  invasion,  in 
a  villa  which  overhung  the  Tezcucan  lake,  not  far  from  his 
capital.  Like  most  of  the  principal  edifices,  it  was  raised  so  as 
to  admit  the  entrance  of  boats  beneath  it.  In  the  midst  of  the 
conference,  Cacama  was  seized  by  the  conspirators,  hurried  on 
board  a  bark  in  readiness  for  the  purpose,  and  transported  to 
Mexico.  When  brought  into  Montezuma's  presence,  the  high- 
spirited  chief  abated  nothing  of  his  proud  and  lofty  bearing. 
He  taxed  his  uncle  with  his  perfidy,  and  a  pusillanimity,  ss 
unworthy  of  his  former  character,  and  of  the  royal  house  from 
which  he  was  descended.  By  the  emperor  he  was  referred  t(? 
Cortds,  who,  holding  royalty  but  cheap  in  an  Indian  prince,  put 
him  in  fetters.^' 


"  "  I  que  para  reparar  la  Religion,  {  restituir  los  Dioses,  guardar  el  Reino, 
cobrar  la  fama,  i  libertad  d  el,  i  a  Mexico,  iria  de  mui  buena  gana,  mas  no 
las  manos  en  el  seno,  sino  en  la  Espada,  paramatar  los  Espaiioles,  que  tanta 
mengua,  i  afrenta  havian  hecho  a  la  Nacion  de  Culhua."     Ibid.,  cap.  91. 

18  "Pero  que  el  tenia  en  su  Tierra  de  el  dichoCacamazin  muchas  Persona* 
Principales,  que  vivian  con  el,  y  les  daba  su  salario."  Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes, 
ap.  Lorcnzana,  p.  95. 

1^  Ibid.,  pp.  95,  96. — Oviedo,  Hist,  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  ■^■})^  cap.  8.— 
Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  86. 

The  latter  author  dismisses  the  capture  of  Cacama  with  the  comfortable 
reflection,  "  that  it  saved  the  Spaniards  much  embarrassment,  and  greatlt 
facilitated  the  introduction  of  the  Catholic  faith." 


TWK     ILMi'LK    (JK    'I  he    Si  N 


>/«^f*#,  ff^4.  0n€. 


FURTHER  MEASURES  OF  CORTES.  ^y^ 

There  was  at  this  time  in  Mexico  a  brother  of  Cacama,  a 
stripling  much  younger  than  himself.  At  the  instigation  of 
Cortds,  Montezuma,  pretending  that  his  nephew  had  forfeited 
the  sovereignty  by  his  late  rebellion^  declared  him  to  be  deposed, 
and  appointed  Cuicuitzca  in  his  place.  Tne  Aztec  sovereigns 
bad  always  been  allowed  a  paramount  authority  in  questions 
relating  to  the  succession.  But  this  was  a  most  unwarrantable 
exercise  of  it.  The  Tezcucans  acquiesced,  however,  with  a 
ready  ductility,  which  showed  their  allegiance  hung  but  lightly 
on  them,  or,  what  is  more  probable,  that  they  were  greatlv  in 
awe  of  the  Spaniards  ;  and  tiie  new  prince  was  welcomed  with 
acclamations  to  his  capital,*' 

C'orie's  still  wanted  to  get  into  his  hands  the  other  chiefs  who 
had  entered  into  the  confederacy  with  Cacama.  This  was  no 
dithcult  maLter.  Montezuma's  authority  was  absolute,  every- 
where but  in  his  own  palace.  By  his  command,  the  Caciques 
were  seized,  each  in  his  own  city,  and  brought  in  chains  to 
Mexico,  wliere  Cortes  placed  them  in  strict  confinement  with 
their  Ic-.de:-." 

He  had  now  triumphed  over  all  his  enemies.  He  hnd  set  his 
feet  on  the  necks  of  princes  ;  and  the  great  chief  of  tlie  Aztec 
empire  was  but  a  convenient  tool  in  his  hand.>,  for  accomplishing 
his  purposes.  His  first  use  of  this  power  v.as,  to  ascertain  the 
actual  resources  of  the  monarchy.  He  sent  several  panics  of 
Spaniards,  guided  by  the  natives,  to  explore  tlie  reijlons  where 
gold  was  obtained.  It  was  gleaned  mostly  from  the  beds  o' 
rivers,  several  hundred  miles  from  the  capital. 

His  next  object  was,  to  learn  if  there  existed  any  good  natural 
harbor  for  shipping  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  as  the  road  of  Vera 
Cruz  left  no  protec?'  n  against  the  tempests  that  at  certain 
seasons  swept  over  these  seas.  Montezuma  showed  him  a  chart 
on  which  the  shores  of  tl)e  Mexican  Gulf  were  laid  down  with 
tolerable   accuracy .'•^     Cortes,  after  carefully  inspecting   it,  sent 

®  ('ones  calls  the  name  of  this  prince  Cucuzca.  (Rel.  Scg.  ap.  Loreii^a- 
na,  p.  66.)  In  (lie  orthograpliv  f  f  Aztec  w-rds,  the  general  was  governed  by 
his  ear  ;  aiid  was  wrong  nine  times  out  of  ten. — ];ustamantc,  in  his  catalogue 
of  Tezcucaa  monarchs,  omits  him  altogethf^r.  He  proljahly  reganis  him  as 
an  intruder,  who  had  no  claim  to  he  r  :ed  among  tiic  rightful  sovereigns  of 
the  land,  ((kileria  de  Antiguos  Principe--,  (Puebla,  iS^iJp.  2\.\  Salngun 
has,  in  like  manner,  struck  his  name  from  the  royal  roll  of  Tercuco.  Hist. 
de  Nueva  Espana,  lib.  8,  cap.  3. 

21  The  exceeding  lenity  of  the  Spanish  commander,  on  this  occasion,  ex- 
cited  general  admiration,  if  we  are  to  credit  .Sou's,  throughout  tlic  Aztec  em- 
pire !  "  Tuvo  notable  aplauso  en  todo  el  imperio  cste  gonero  de  castigo  sin 
•angre,  que  se  atribuyb  al  superior  juicio  de  los  Espanoles,  ponpie  n^  es[>e 
raban  de  Moteznina  semojante  moderacion."     Contjuista,  lib.  4,  c.ij).  2. 

^^  Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana,  \i.  91. 


440 


RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 


a  commission  consisting  of  ten  Spaniards,  several  of  them  pilots, 
and  some  Aztecs,  who  descended  to  Vera  Cruz,  and  made  careful 
survey  of  the  coast  for  nearly  sixty  leagues  south  of  that  settle 
ment,  as  far  as  the  great  river  Coatzacualco  which  seemed  to 
ofler  the  best,  indeed,  the  only,  accommodations  for  a  safe  and 
suitable  harbor.  A  spot  was  selected  as  the  site  of  a  fortified 
post,  and  the  general  sent  a  detachment  of  a  hundred  and 
fifty  men  under  Velasquez  de  Leon  to  plant  a  colony  there. 

He  also  obtained  a  grant  of  an  extensive  tract  of  land,  in  the 
fruitful  province  of  Oaxaca,  where  he  proposed  to  lay  out  a 
plantation  for  the  Crown.  He  stocked  it  with  the  different  kind 
of  domesticated  animals  peculiar  to  the  country,  and  with  such 
indigenous  grains  and  plants  as  would  afford  the  best  articles 
for  export.  He  soon  had  the  estate  under  such  cultivation,  that 
he  assured  his  master,  tlie  emperor,  Charles  the  Fifth,  it  was 
worth  twenty  thousand  ounces  of  gold.'-^ 

23  "  Damns  quae  dant,"'  says  Martyr,  briefly,  in  reference  to  this  valuation. 
(De  Orbe  Novo,  dec.  5,  cap.  3.)  Cortes  notices  the  reports  made  by  his 
people,  of  large  and  beautiful  edifices  in  the  province  of  Oaxaca.  (Rel.  Seg., 
ap.  Lorenzana.  p.  89. )  It  is  here,  also,  that  some  of  the  most  elaborate 
specimens  of  Indian  architecture  are  still  to  be  seen,  in  the  ruins  of  Alitla. 


MONTEZUMA  SWEARS  ALLEGIANCE. 


441 


CHAPTER  V. 

Montezuma  swears  Allegiance  to  Spain. — Roval  Treasures 
— Their  Division. — Christian  Worship  in  the  Tbocalli.— ■ 
Discontents  of  the  Aztecs. 


Cortes  now  felt  his  auihority  sufficiently  assured  to  demand 
from  Montezuma  a  formal  recognition  of  the  supremacy  of  ilie 
Spanish  emperor.  The  Indian  monarch  had  iniiinaLed  his  will- 
ingness to  acquiesce  in  this,  on  their  very  first  interviev'.  He 
did  not  object,  therefore,  to  call  together  his  principal  caciques 
i  )X  the  purpose.  When  they  were  assembled,  he  matle  them  an 
address,  briefly  stating  the  object  of  the  meeting.  They  were  all 
acquainted,  he  said,  with  the  ancient  tradition,  rftat  the  great 
Being,  who  had  once  ruled  over  the  land,  had  declared,  on  his 
de;jarturc,  that  he  should  return  at  some  future  time  and  resume 
his  swav.  That  time  had  now  arrived.  The  white  men  h£>." 
come  from  the  quarter  where  the  sunrises,  beyond  the  ocean,  t© 
which  die  good  deity  had  withdrawn.  They  were  sent  by  their 
master  to  reclaim  the  obedience  of  his  ancient  subjects.  For 
himself  he  was  ready  to  acknowledge  his  aikhority.  '*You  have 
been  faithful  vassals  of  mine,"  continued  Montezuma,  "  durinj? 
the  many  years  that  I  have  sat  on  the  throne  of  my  fathers,  i 
now  expect  that  vou  will  show  me  this  last  act  of  obedience  by 
acknowledging  the  great  king  beyond  the  waters  to  be  }our  lord, 
also,  and  that  you  will  pay  him  tribute  in  the  same  manner  ;ij 
you  ha\e  hitherto  done  to  me."  ^  As  he  concluded,  his  voice 
was  nearly  stifled  by  his  emotion,  and  the  tears  fell  fast  down 
his  cheeks. 

His  nobles,  many  of  whom,  coming  from  a  distance,  had  not 
kept  pace  with  the  changes  which  had  been  going  on  in  tie 
capital,    were   filled  with    asf^nishment,  as    they  listened   to  his 

-  "  Y  raucho  OS  ruego,  pues  k  U)i\n%  os  es  notorio  tndo  csto,  (|iie  assf  como 
tiasia  aqui  ami  nic  habcis  icnicln,  y  i<bL(ii;cido  por  Seiiur  vuestro,  de  acjui  add- 
ante  tcngais,  y  obedesiais  a.  L--tc  (Iran  Key,  pues  »d  es  viu-iro  natural  Sciiur 
y  en  i>u  lugar  tengnis  a  estc  su  Capitan  :  y  todos  los  Tribulos,  y  Servicios, 
que  faata  aqui  k  mi  me  haciadcs,  los  haccd,  y  dad  k  Ol,  porque  yo  assiniismo 
tcngo  de  contribuir,  y  stivir  con  todo  lo  cjue  mr  niandare."  Rel.  Scg.  do 
Cortes,  ap.  l.orenzana,  p,  97. 


443 


RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 


words,  and  beheld  the  voluntary  abasement  of  their  master, 
whom  they  had  hitherto  reverenced  as  the  omnipotent  lord  o! 
Anahuac.  They  were  the  more  aiTected,  therefore,  by  the  sight 
of  his  distress,'^  His  will,  they  told  him,  had  always  been  their 
law.  It  should  be  so  now,  and,  if  he  thought  the  sovereign  of 
the  strangers  was  the  ancient  lord  of  their  country,  they  were 
willing  to  acknowledge  him  as  such  still.  The  oaths  of  allegiance 
were  then  administered  with  all  due  solemnity,  attested  by  the 
Spaniards  present,  and  a  full  record  of  the  proceedings  was 
drawn  up  by  the  royal  notary,  to  be  sent  to  Spain.^  There  was 
something  deeply  touching  in  the  ceremony  by  which  an  indepen- 
dent and  absolute  monarch,  in  obedience  less  to  the  dictates  of 
fear  than  of  conscience,  thus  relinquished  his  hereditary  rights 
in  favor  of  an  unknown  and  mysterious  power.  It  even  moved 
those  hardy  men  who  were  thus  unscrupulously  availing  them- 
selves  of  the  confiding  ignorance  of  the  natives  ;  and,  though 
*'  it  was  in  the  regular  way  of  their  own  business,"  says  an  old 
chronicler,  "  there  was  not  a  Spaniard  who  could  look  on  the 
spectacle  with  a  dry  eye"  !* 

^  "  Lo  qual  todo  les  dijo  llorando,  con  las  mayores  lagrimas,  y  suspires, 
que  un  hombre  podia  nianifestar  ;  e  assimismo  todos  aquellos  Sefiores,  que 
le  estabaii  oiendo,  lloraban  tanto,  que  en  gran  rato  no  le  pudieron  respon- 
der."     Ibid.,  loc.  cit. 

3  Soli's  regards  this  ceremony  as  supplying  what  was  before  defective  in 
the  title  of  the  Spaniards  to  the  country.  The  remarks  are  curious,  even 
from  a  professed  casuist.  "  Y  siendo  una  como  insinuacion  misteriosa  del 
ti'tuloquese  debi&  despues  al  derecho  de  las  armas,  sobre  justa  provocacion, 
como  lo  veremos  en  su  lugar  :  circumstancia  particular,  que  coiicurrio  en  la 
conquista  de  Mejico  para  mayor  justificacion  de  aquel  dominio,  sobre  las 
demas  consideraciones  generales  que  no  solo  hicieron  licita  la  guerra  en  otras 
partes,  sino  legitima  y  razonable  siempre  que  se  puso  en  terminos  de  medio 
necesario  para  la  introduccion  del  Evangelio."     Conquista.  lib.  4,  cap.  3. 

*  Bernal  Diaz,  Hist-  de  la  Conquista,  caj).  loi. — Solis,  Conquista,  loc.  cit. 
— Ilerrera,  Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  9,  cap.  4. — Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist.  Chich., 
MS.,  cap.  87. 

Oviedo  considers  the  grief  of  Montezuma  as  sufficient  proof  that  his  hom^ 
age,  far  from  being  voluntary,  was  extorted  by  necessity.  The  historian 
appears  to  have  seen  the  drift  of  events  more  clearlv  than  some  of  the  actors 
in  them.  "  \'  en  la  verdad  si  como  Cortes  lo  dice,  6  escrivio,  pasoen  efecto. 
mui  gran  coso  me  parece  la  conciencia  y  liberalidad  de  Montezuma  en  esta 
su  restitucion  e  obediencia  al  Rey  de  Castilia,  por  la  simple  6  cantelosa  infor 
macion  de  Cortes,  que  le  podia  hacer  para  ello  ;  Mas  aquellas  lagrimas  con 
Gue  dice,  que  Montezuma  hizo  su  oracion,  e  amonestamiento,  despojandose 
tie  su  sennri'o,  e  las  de  aquellos  con  que  les  respondieron  aceptando  lo  que 
les  mandaba,  y  exortaba,  y  a  mi  parecer  su  llanto  queria  decir,  6  enseiiar 
Otra  cosa  de  lo  que  el,  y  ellos  dixeron  ;  porque  lasobedieiicias  que  se  suelen 
dar  a  los  Prfncipes  con  riza,  e  con  camaras  ;  e  diversidad  de  ^iusica,  e  leti- 
cia,  ensetialesde  placer,  se  suele  hacer  ;  e  no  con  lucto  iii  lagrimas,  c  sollo. 
zos,  ni  estando  preso  quien  obedece  ;  portjue  como  dice  Marco  Varron  :  l.a 
que  por  fuerza  se  da  no  es  servicio  sino  robo."  Hist,  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  'ibk 
43.  cap.  9, 


ROYAL   TREASURES. 


443 


The  rumor  of  these  strange  proceedings  was  soon  circulated 

through  the  capital  and  country.  Men  read  in  them  the  finger 
of  Providence.  The  ancient  tradition  of  Quetzalcoatl  was  fam- 
iliar to  all  ;  and  where  it  had  slept  scarcely  noticed  in  the  mem- 
cry,  it  was  now  revived  with  many  exaggerated  circumstances. 
It  was  said  to  be  part  of  the  tradition,  that  the  royal  line  of  the 
Aztecs  was  to  end  with  Montezuma  ;  and  his  name,  the  literal 
signincaiion  of  which  is  "sad  "  or  "  angry  lord  "  was  construed 
into  an  omen  of  his  evil  destiny.^ 

Having  thus  secured  this  great  feudatory  to  the  crown  of  Castile, 
Cortes  suggested  that  it  would  be  well  for  the  Aztec  cliiefs  to 
send  his  sovereign  such  a  gratuity  as  would  conciliate  his  good- 
will by  convincing  him  of  the  loyalty  of  his  new  vassals."  Mon- 
tezuma consented  that  his  collectors  should  visit  the  princij^al 
cities  and  pro\'ince,  attended  i)\-  a  number  of  Spaniards,  to  receive 
the  customarv  tributes,  in  tlie  name  of  the  Casiilian  sovereign. 
In  a  few  weei<s  most  of  them  returned,  biinging  back  large 
quantities  of  gold  and  silver  i)la'e,  rich  stuffs,  and  the  various 
commodities  in  which  tlie  taxes  were  usually  paid. 

To  this  store  Montezuma  added,  on  his  own  account,  the 
treasure  of  Axavacatl,  previoi  ^ly  noticed,  some  part  of  which  had 
been  aireadv  given  to  the  Spaniards.  It  was  the  fruit  of  long 
and  careful  hoarding, — of  extortion,  it  may  be, — by  a  prince 
who  little  dreamed  of  its  final  destination.  When  brought  into 
the  quarters,  tlie  gold  alone  was  sufficient  to  make  three  great 
heaps.  It  consisted  partly  of  native  grains  ;  part  had  been  melted 
into  bars;  but  the  greatest  portion  was  in  utensils,  and  various 
kinds  of  ornaments  and  curious  tovs,  together  witli  imitations 
of  birds,  insects,  or  flowers,  executed  with  uncommon  truth  and 
delicacy.  Tliere  were.  al<o,  quantities  of  collars,  bracelets,  wands, 
fans,  and  other  trii;kets,  in  which  the  gold  and  fea'lier-work 
were  riciilv  powdered  with  pearls  and  precious  stones.  Many 
of  the  articles  were  evm  more  admirable  for  the  workmanship 
than  for  the  value  of  tlie  materials  ;^  stich  indi>cd. — if  we  ma\- 
take  the   report  of  Cortes  to  one  who  would  liimself  h;i\-c  soon 


'  f  jomara.    Cronica,   cap.    OJ. — riavi;'oro,    St'ir.  del  Messirn.    tciii.    II.  p. 

''  ■■  I'.ireceria  quo  cllos  rr,iiicii/a!)aii  a  :-'-\\\r,  y  \  ucstia  .\ltc/a  tcmli  :,i  mas 
COtVf;])"')  '\<:  l:iS  V'/IuiUa'''  ■.  'iiic  (:  >'\  srr'.ii  'ii  inn-,tra!)aii."  Kcl.  ."-icL%  (le 
Corn's,  ap.  J,' irciizaiia,  ]i.  9S. 

"  I'^jlcr  Martvr,  (ii-^triistii,'^  sniiif  extravai^ancc  in  this  sLitcnicnt  i>f  C"orlt%, 
found  it  fiil'y  continued  hv  i\v  tt  >i;ninny  ni  nthcrs.  "  Itnciuut  uou  crcdcn- 
da.  Crciienda  lanien,  ijuaii<io  v;r  talis  ad  ('ac-sarein  ft  iic^iii  1  nllcgii  Jndici 
Bcnatores  a  idf.-it  f:,\s'  1  i'v:  i  .  Addes  iiisupcr  se  inult.i  pi  .i-termittcre,  uc 
tanta  rcccn  ."ii do  ^il  in^ic-tus.  /a'lrm  tjjjiririant  qui  ad  nos  inJe  rf^rediuutur.'^ 
De  Orbc  Novo,  dec.  5.  cap.  3 


444 


RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 


an  opportunity  to  judge  of  its  veracity,  and  whom  it  would  not 
be  safe  to  trifle  with, — as  no  monarch  in  Europe  could  boast  in 
his  dominions  ! 

Magnificent  as  it  was,  Montezuma  expressed  his  regret  that 
the  treasure  was  no  larger.  But  he  had  diminished  it,  he  said, 
by  his  former  gifts  to  the  white  men.  "  Take  it "  he  added, 
"  Malinche,  and  let  it  be  recorded  in  your  annals,  that  Montezu- 
ma sent  this  present  to  your  master." 

The  Spaniards  gazed  with  greedy  eyes  on  the  display  of  riches," 
now  their  own  which  far  exceeded  all  hitherto  seen  in  the  New 
World  and  fell  nothing  short  of  the  El  Dorado  which  their  glowing 
imaginations  had  depicted.  It  may  be,  that  they  felt  somewhat 
rebuked  by  the  contrast  which  their  own  avarice  presented  to  the 
princely  munificence  of  the  barbarian  chief.  At  least,  they  seem- 
ed to  testify  their  sense  of  his  superiority  by  the  respectful  hom- 
age which  they  rendered  him,  as  they  poured  forth  the  fulness 
of  their  gratitude. ^-^  They  were  not  so  scrupulous,  however,  as  to 
manifest  any  delicacy  in  appropriating  to  diemselves  the  donti- 
tive,  a  small  part  of  which  was  to  find  its  way  into  the  royal  cof- 
fers. They  clamored  loudly  for  an  immediate  division  of  the 
spoil,  which  the  general  would  have  postponed  till  the  tributes 
from  the  remoter  provinces  had  been  gathered  in.  The  gold- 
smiths of  Azcapoxalco  were  sent  for  to  take  in  pieces  the  larger 
and  coarser  ornaments,  leaving  untouched  those  of  more  deli- 
cate workmanship.  Three  days  were  consumed  in  this  labor, 
when  the  heaps  of  gold  were  cast  into  ingots,  and  stamped  with 
the  royal  arms. 

Some  difficulty  occurred  in  the  division  of  the  treasure,  from 
the  want  of  weights,  which,  strange  as  it  appears,  considering 
their  advancement  in  the  arts,  were,  as  already  observed,  un- 
known to  the  Aztecs.  The  deficiency  was  soon  supplied  by 
the  Spaniards,  however,  with  scales  and  weights  of  their  own 
manufacture,  probablv  not  the  most  exact.  With  the  aid  of 
these  they  ascertained  the  value  of  the  royal  fifth  to  be  thirty- 

'  *'  Las  quales,  dernas  de  su  valor,  eran  tales,  y  tan  maravillo«as,  que  con- 
eideradas  por  su  novedad,  y  estraneza,  no  tenian  precio,  ni  es  de  creer,  que 
algiino  de  todos  los  Pn'ncipes  del  Mundo  de  quien  se  tiene  noticia,  las 
pudiesse  tener  tales,  y  de  tal  calidad."  Rel.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  Lorenzana, 
p.  99. — See,  also,  Oviedo,  Hist,  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  33,  cap.  9, — Bernal 
Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  104. 

'•*  "  Dezilde  en  vuestros  aneles  y  cartas:  Esto  os  embia  vuestro  buen  Ta* 
•alio  Monte9uma."     Bernal  Diaz,  ubi  supra. 

"  Fluctibus  auri 
Expleri  callor  ille  nequit." 

Claudian,   In  Ruf.,  lib.  i. 

il  ««  y  qu5do  aquello  le  oyo  Cortes,  y  todos  nosotros,  estuvfmos  espantfr 


ROYAL   TREASURES. 


445 


two  thousand  and  four  huwdxed  pesos  de  oro?^     Diaz  swells  is  to 

nearly  four  times  tliat  amount.^''  But  their  desire  of  securing  the 
emperor's  fa\or  makes  it  improbable  that  the  Spaniards  should 
have  defrauded  the  exchequer  of  any  part  of  its  due  ;  while,  as 
Corte's  was  responsible  for  the  sum  admitted  in  his  letter,  he 
would  be  still  less  likely  to  overstate  it.  His  estimate  may  be 
received  as  the  true  one. 

The  whole  amounted,  therefore,  to  one  hundred  and  sixty-  two 
thousand /<?i"(?J  de  oro,  independently  of  the  fine  ornaments  and 
jewelry,  the  value  of  which  Cortes  computes  at  five  hundred 
thousand  ducats  more.  There  were,  besides,  five  hundred  marks 
of  silver,  chiefly  in  plate,  drinking-cups,  and  other  articles  of 
luxury.  The  inconsiderable  quantity  of  the  silver,  as  compared 
with  the  gold  forms  a  singular  contrast  to  the  relative  proportions 
of  the  two  metals  since  the  occupation  of  the  country  by  the 
Europeans."  The  whole  amount  of  the  treasure,  reduced  to  our 
own  c-urrency,  and  making  allowance  for  the  change  in  the  value 
of  gold  since  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  was  about  six 
million  three  hundred  thousand  dollars,  or  one  million  four  hun- 
dred and  seventeen  thousand  pounds  sterling;  a  sum  large  enough 
to  show  the  incorrectness  of  the  popular  notion,  that  little  or  no 
wealth  was  found  in    Mexico. •'''     It    was,  indeed,  small  in    com. 

dos  de  la  gran  Ijondad,  y  liberaiidad  del  gran  Moiite9iima,  y  con  mucho  acato 
le  ciuitainos  todos  las  gorras  de  armas.  y  le  dixiniu.-;.  .[uc  se  lo  tenianios  en 
merced,  y  con  palahras  de  mucho  amor."  etc.     Benial  Diaz,  ubi  supra. 

12  Kel.  Scg.  de  Cortes,  an.  l.orenzana.  p.  99. 

This  estimate  of  the  roya!  fifth  is  confirmed  (with  the  exception  of  the 
four  hundred  ounces]  by  the  affidavits  of  a  number  of  witnesses  cited  on  be- 
half of  C'ortt's,  to  show  the  amount  of  the  treasure.  Among  these  witnesses 
we  find  some  of  the  most  respectable  names  in  the  army,  as  Olid,  Ordaz, 
Avila,  the  priests  Oimedo  and  Diaz, — the  last,  it  may  be  added,  not  too 
friendly  to  the  t;encri<l.  The  instrument,  which  is  without  date,  is  in  the 
collection  of  Vargas  Fon^e.  Probanza  fecha  a  pedimento  de  Juan  de  Lex- 
Jilde,  MS. 

18  "  Mran  tres  montoncs  dc  oro,  y  pcsado  huvo  en  ellos  sobre  seiscifntos  mil 

{"lesos,  como   adelante  di/e,  sin  la  plata,  e  otras  muchas   ricpiezas."     llist.de 
a  Conquista,  cap.  104. 

'*  The  fjuantitv  of  silver  taken  from  the  American  mines  has  exceeded 
that  of  gold  in  the  ratio  of  forty-six  to  one.  (liuml)oldt,  Kssai  I'dlitique, 
♦om.  III.  p.  401.)  Tiie  value  of  the  latter  metal,  says  Clemencin.  which,  on 
the  discovery  of  the  New  World  wis  only  eleven  times  greater  thrui  that  of 
the  form«r,  has  now  come  to  be  sixteen  times.  (Memorias  de  la  i<e:d  .Acad, 
de  I  fist.,  torn.,  VI.  Ilust.  20.)  This  does  not  vary  materially  from  Smith's 
estimate  made  after  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  (Wealth  cf  Xaiions, 
book  I.  chap.  11.)  The  difference  would  have  been  mncii  more  cnnsiderable 
but  for  the  greater  demand  for  silver  for  objects  of  ornament  and  use. 

^  Dr.  Robert■^fMl,  preferring  the  aiithoritv,  it  seems,  of  Diaz,  sjieaks  of  the 
value  of  the  treasure  as  600,000  pesos.  (Mistoryof  .America,  vd.  II.p|i. 
296,  298.)  The  value  of  the/ir.w  is  an  ounce  of  silver,  or  d-jllar,  which,  nial\- 
ing   allowance   for   the   flepreciation   of    silver,   reitresented,    in   the   time   of 


^6  RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 

parison  with  that  obtained  by  the  conquerors  of  Peru.  But  few 
European  monarchs  of  that  day  could  boast  a  larger  treasure  in 
their  coffers.-'® 

The  division  of  the  spoil  was  a  work  of  some  difficulty.  A 
perfectly  equal  division  of  it  among  the  Conquerors  would  have 
given  more  than  three  thousand  pounds  sterling,  apiece  ;  a  mag- 
nificent booty  !  But  one  fifth  was  to  be  deducted  for  the  Crown. 
An  equal  portion  was  reserved  for  the  general,  pursuant  to  the 
tenor  of  his  commission.  A  large  sum  was  then  allowed  to 
indemnify  him  and  the  governor  of  Cuba,  for  the  charges  of 
the  expedition  and  the  loss  of  the  fleet.  The  garrison  of  Vera 
Cruz  was  also  to  be  provided  for.  Ample  compensation  was 
made  to  the  principal  cavaliers.  The  cavalry,  arquebusiers  and 
crossbow-men,  each  received  double  pay.  So  that,  when  the  turn 
of  the  common  soldiers  came,  there  remained  not  more  than  a 
YiMXidx^di  pesos  de  oro  for  each  ;  a  sum  so  insignificant,  in  compar- 
ison with  their  expectations,  that  several  refused  to  accept  it." 

Loud  murmurs  now  rose  among  the  men.  "  Was  it  for  this," 
they  said,  "  that  we  left  our  homes  and  families,  perilled  our  lives, 
submitted  to  fatigue  and  famine,  and  all  for  so  contemptible  a 
pittance  !  Better  to  have  stayed  in  Cuba,  and  contented  ourselves 
with  ihc  gains  of  a  safe  and  easy  irafiic.  When  we  gave  up  our 
share  of  the  gold  at  Vera  Cruz,  it  was  on  the  assurance  that  we 
should  be  amply  requited  in  Mexico.  We  have,  indeed,  found 
the  riches  we  expected  ;  but  no  sooner  seen  then  they  are  snatched 
from  us  by  the  very  men  who  pledged  us  their  faith  !  "  The 
malcontents  even  went  so  far  as  to  accuse  their  leaders  of 
appropriating  to  themselves  several  of  the  richest  ornaments, 
before  the  partition  had  been  made  ;  an  accusation  that  receives 
some  countenance  from  a  dispute   which  arose  between  Mexia, 

Cortes,  nearly  four  times  its  value  at  the  present  day.  But  that  of  \}at  peso 
de  era  was  nearly  tliree  times  that  sum,  or  eleven  dollars,  sixty-seven  cents. 
(See  Ante,  Book  II.  cliap.  6,  note  i8.)  Robertson  makes  his  own  estimate, 
so  much  reduced  below  that  of  his  original,  an  argument  for  doubting  the 
existence,  in  any  great  quantity,  of  either  gold  or  silver  in  the  country.  In 
accounting  for  the  scarcity  of  the  former  metal  in  this  argument,  he  falls  into 
an  error  in  stating  that  gold  was  nr;,  one  of  the  standards  by  w^hich  the  value 
of  other  commodities  in  Mexicr   was  estimated.     Comp.  Ante,  Vol.   I.  p. 

^^  Many  of  them,  indeed  could  boast  little  or  nothing  in  their  coffers. 
Maximilian  of  Germany,  and  the  more  prudent  Ferdinand  of  Spain,  left 
scarcely  enough  to  defr^ty  their  funeral  expenses.  Even  as  late  as  the  be 
ginning  of  the  next  .entury,  we  find  Henry  IV.  of  France  embracing  his 
minister,  Sully,  with  rapture,  when  he  informed  him,  that,  by  dint  of  great 
economy,  he  had  •36,000,000  livres,  about  1,500,000  pounds  sterling,  in  his 
treasury.     See  Memoires  du  Due  de  Sully,  tom.  III.  liv.  27. 

1^  "  For  sar  tan  poco,  muchos  soldados  huuo  que  no  lo  quisieron  recebir." 
Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  105. 


THEIR  DIVISION, 


447 


the  treasurer  for  the  Crown,  and  Velasquez  de  Leon,  a  relation 
of  the  governor,  and  a  favorite  of  Cortes.  The  treasurer  accus- 
ed this  cavalier  of  purloining  certain  of  pieces  of  plate  before 
they  were  submitted  to  the  royal  stamp.  From  words  the  par- 
ties came  to  blows.  They  were  good  swordsmen  ;  several 
wounds  were  given  on  both  sides,  and  the  affair  mifjht  have 
ended  fatally,  but  for  the  interference  of  Cortes,  who  placed 
both  under  arrest. 

He  then  used  all  his  authority  and  insinuating  eloquence  to 
calm  tiie  passions  of  his  men.  It  was  a  delicate  crisis.  He  was 
sorry,  he  said,  to  see  them  so  unmindful  of  the  duty  of  loyal 
soldiers,  and  cavaliers  of  the  Cross,  as  to  brawl  like  common 
banditti  over  their  booty.  The  division,  he  assured  them,  had 
been  made  on  perfectly  fair  and  equitable  principles.  As  to 
his  own  share,  it  was  no  more  than  was  warranted  by  his  com- 
mission. Yet,  if  they  thought  it  too  much,  he  was  willing  to 
forego  his  just  claims,  and  divide  with  the  jDoorest  soldier. 
Gold,  however  welcome,  was  not  the  chief  object  of  his  ambi- 
tion. If  it  were  theirs,  they  should  still  reflect,  that  the  present 
treasure  was  little  in  compaiison  with  what  awaited  them  here- 
after ;  for  had  they  not  the  whole  country  and  its  mines  at  their 
disposal  .''  It  was  only  necessary  that  they  should  not  give  an 
opening  to  the  enemy,  by  their  discord,  to  circumvent  and  to 
crush  them.  With  these  honeyed  words,  of  which  he  had  good 
store  for  all  fitting  occasions,  says  an  old  soldier,"  for  whose 
benefit,  in  part,  they  were  intended,  he  succeeded  in  calming 
the  storm  for  the  present  ;  while  in  private  he  took  more  effec- 
tual means,  by  present  judiciously  administered,  to  mitigate  tlie 
discontents  of  the  importunate  and  refractory.  And,  although 
there  were  a  few  of  more  tenacious  temper,  who  treasured  this  in 
their  memories  against  a  future  day,  the  troops  soon  relurned  to 
their  usual  subordination.  This  was  one  of  those  critical  conjunc- 
tures which  taxed  all  the  address  and  personal  authority  of 
Cortes.  He  never  shrunk  from  them,  but  on  such  occasions 
was  true  to  himself.  At  Vera  Cruz  he  had  persuaded  his 
followers  to  give  up  what  was  but  the  earnest  of  future  gains. 
Here  he  persuaded  them  1o  relinquish  these  gains  themselves. 
It  was  snatching  the  prey  from  the  very  ^aws  of  the  lion.  W'iiy 
did  he  not  turn  and  rend  him  ? 

To  many  of  the  soldiers,  indeed,  it  mattered  little  whether 
their  share  of  the  bootv  were  more  or  less.  Caminy  is  a  deep 
rooted  passion  m  the  Spaniard,  and  the  sudden  acquisition  oi; 
riches  furnished  both  the  means  and  the  motive  for  its  indule,- 

'*  "  Palahras  muv  melifliias; razones  niui  bicn  dichas,   que  lafc 

labia  bien  projjoner."     Ibid.,  ubi  supra. 


448 


RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 


ence.  CaraS  were  easily  made  out  of  old  parchment  drum. 
heads,  and  in  a  few  days  most  of  the  prize-money,  obtained 
with  so  much  toil  and  suffering,  had  changed  hands,  and  many 
of  the  improvident  soldiers  closed  the  campaign  as  poor  as  they 
had  commenced  it.  Others,  it  is  true,  more  prudent,  followed 
the  example  of  their  officers,  who,  with  the  aid  of  the  royal  jew. 
ellers,  converted  their  gold  into  chains,  services  of  plate,  and 
other  portable  articles  of  ornament  or  use.^* 

Corte's  seemed  now  to  have  accomplished  the  great  objects 
of  the  expedition.  The  Indian  monarch  had  declared  himself 
the  feudatory  of  the  Spanish.  His  authority,  his  revenues,  were 
at  the  disposal  of  the  general.  The  conquest  of  Mexico  seemed 
to  be  achieved,  and  that  without  a  blow.  But  it  was  far  from 
being  achieved.  One  important  step  yet  remained  to  be  taken, 
towards  which  the  Spaniards  had  hitherto  made  little  progress, 
— the  conversion  of  the  natives.  With  all  the  exertions  of 
father  Olmedo,  backed  by  the  polemic  talents  of  the  general,*^ 
neither  Montezuma  nor  his  subjects  showed  any  disposition  to 
abjure  the  faith  of  their  fathers.^^  The  bloody  exercises  of  their 
religion,  on  the  contrary,  were  celebrated  with  all  the  usual  cir- 
cumstance and  pomp  of  sacrifice  before  the  eyes  of  the  Span- 
iards. 

Unable  further  to  endure  these  abominations,  Cortes,  attended 
by  several  of  his  cavaliers,  waited  on  Montezuma.  H(  •'old  the 
emperor  that  the  Christians  could  no  longer  consent  to  wave  the 
services  of  their  religion  shut  up  within  the  narrow  walls  of  the 
garrison.  They  wished  to  spread  its  light  far  abroad,  and  to 
open  to  the  people  a  full  participation  in  the  blessings  of  Chris- 
tianity.    For  this  purpose,  they  requested  that  the  great  teocalli 

1'  Ibid.,  cap.  105,  106. — Gomara,  Cronlca,  cap,  93. — Herrera,  Hist.  Gen- 
eral, dec.  2,  lib.  8.  cap.  5. 

'^'  "Ex  jureconsulto  Cortesius  theologus  effectus,''  says  Martyr,  in  his 
pithy  manner.     De  Orbe  Novo,  dec.  5,  cap.  4. 

'■^1  According  to  Ixtlilxochitl,  Montezuma  got  as  far  on  the  road  to  conver- 
sion,  as  the  Credo  and  the  Ave  Maria,  both  of  which  he  could  repeat;  but 
his  baptism  was  postponed,  and  he  died  before  receiving  it.  Tnat  he  ever 
consented  to  receive  it  is  highly  improbable.  I  quote  the  historian's  words, 
in  which  he  further  notices  the  general's  unsuccessful  labors  among  the 
Indians.  "Cortes  comenzo  a  dar  6rden  de  la  conversion  de  los  Naturales, 
diciendoles,  que  pues  eran  vasallos  del  Rey  de  Espafia  que  se  tornasen 
Christianos  como  el  lo  era,  y  asi  se  comenzaron  a  Bautizar  algunos  aunque 
fueron  muy  pocos,  v  Motecuhzoma  aunque  pidio  el  Bautismo,y  sabia  algunas 
de  las  oraciones  como  eran  el  Ave  Maria,  y  el  Cr'jclo,  se  dilato  por  la  Pasqua 
siguiente,  que  era  la  de  Resurreccion,  y  fu^  tan  desdichado  que  nunca  al- 
canzo  tanto  bien,  y  los  Nuestros  con  la  dilacion  y  aprieto  en  c|ue  se  vieron, 
«e  descuidaron,  de  que  pes6  a  todos  mucho  munese  sin  Bautismo."  Hist 
Chich.,  MS.,  cap.  87. 


rHEIR  DIVISION. 


449 


should  be  delivered  up,  as  a  fit  place  where  their  worship  might 
be  conducted  in  the  presence  of  the  whole  city. 

Montezuma  listened  to  the  proposal  with  visible  consterna- 
tion. Amidst  all  his  troubles  he  had  leaned  for  support  on  his 
own  faith,  and,  indeed,  it  was  in  obedience  to  it,  that  he  had 
shown  such  deference  to  the  Spaniards  as  the  mysterious  mes- 
sengers predicted  by  the  oracles.  "  Why,"  said  he,  "  Malinche, 
why  will  you  urge  matters  to  an  extremity,  that  must  surely 
bring  down  the  vengeance  of  our  gods,  and  stir  up  an  insurrec- 
tion among  my  people,  who  will  never  endure  this  profanation 
of  their  temples  ?  "  '^ 

Corte's,  seeing  how  greatly  he  was  moved,  made  a  sign  to  his 
offictjrs  to  withdraw,  When  left  alone  with  the  interpreters,  he 
told  the  emperor  that  he  would  use  his  influence  to  moderate 
the  zeal  of  his  followers,  and  persuade  them  to  be  contented 
with  one  of  the  sanctuaries  of  the  teocalli.  If  that  were  not 
granted,  they  should  be  obliged  to  take  it  by  force,  and  to  roll 
down  ihe  images  of  his  false  deiiics  in  the  face  of  the  city.  '"  We 
fear  iiot  for  our  li\es,"  he  added,  "  for,  though  our  numbers  are 
few,  the  arm  of  the  true  God  is  over  us."  Montezuma,  much 
agitated,  told  him  that  he  would  confer  with  the  priests. 

The  result  of  tiie  conference  was  favorable  to  the  Spaniards, 
who  were  allowed  to  occupy  one  of  the  sanctuaries  as  a  place  of 
worship.  The  tidings  spread  great  joy  throughout  the  camp. 
They  might  now  go  foiih  in  open  day  and  publish  their  religion 
to  tlje  assemljlcd  capital.  No  time  was  lost  in  availing  them- 
selves of  the  permission.  The  sanctuary  was  cleansed  of  its 
ciisgusiing  impurities,  An  altar  was  raised,  surmounted  by  a 
criicilix  and  ibe  image  of  the  Virgin.  Instead  of  the  gold  and 
jewels  whicli  blazed  on  the  neighboring  Pagan  shrine,  its  walls 
were  decorated  with  fresh  garlands  of  flowers  ;  and  an  old 
suidier  was  stationed  to  watch  over  the  cliapel,  and  guard  it 
from  intrusion. 

When  these  arrangements  were  (-ompleted,  the  whole  army 
moved  in  solemn  procession  up  the  winding  ascent  of  the 
pyramid.  Entering  the  sanctuary,  and  clustering  round  its 
portals,  they  listened  reverentially  to  the  service  of  the  mass,  as 
it  was  performed  by  the  fathers  Ohnedo  and  Diaz.  And,  as  the 
beautiful  Te  Deum  rose  towards  heaven,  Cortds  and  his  soldiers, 
kneeling  on  the  ground,  with  tears  streaming  from   their  eyes, 

**  "  O  Malinche,  V  como  nos  q nereis  echar  d  perder  i  toda  esta  ciudad, 
porque  estaran  riiiii  eiiojados  nuestros  Dioses  contra  nosotros,  y  aun  vuestrai 
▼idas  no  se  en  que  pararan."     Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  do  la  Conquista,  cap.  107. 


^^o  RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 

poareJ  forth  their  gratitude  to  the  Almighty  for  this  glorious 
triumph  of  the  Cross.-* 

It  was  a  striking  spectacle, — that  of  these  rude  warriors  lifting 
up  their  orisons  on  the  summit  of  this  mountain  temple,  in  the 
very  capital  of  Heathendom,  on  the  spot  especially  dedicated 
to  its  unhallowed  mysteries.  Side  by  side,  the  Spaniard  and  the 
Aztec  knelt  down  in  prayer ;  and  the  Christian  hymn  mingled 
its  sweet  tones  of  love  and  mercy  with  the  wild  chant  raised  by 
the  Indian  priest  in  honor  of  the  war-god  of  Anahuac !  It  was 
an  unnatural  union,  and  could  not  long  abide. 

A  nation  will  endure  any  outrage  sooner  than  that  on  its  re^ 
ligion.  This  is  an  outrage  both  on  its  principles  and  its  preju- 
dices ;  on  the  ideas  instilled  into  it  from  childhood,  which  have 
strengthened  with  its  growth,  until  they  become  a  part  of  its 
nature, — which  have  to  do  with  its  highest  interests  here,  and 
with  the  dread  hereafter.  Any  violence  to  the  religious  senti* 
ment  touches  all  alike,  the  old  and  the  young,  the  rich  and  the 
poor,  the  noble  and  the  plebeian.  Above  all,  it  touches  the 
priests,  whose  personal  consideration  rests  on  that  of  their  relig- 
ion ;  and  who,  in  a  semi-civilized  state  of  society,  usually  hold 
an  unbounded  authority.  Thus  it  was  with  the  Brahmins  of 
India,  the  Magi  of  Persia,  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  in  the 
Dark  Ages,  the  priests  of  ancient  Egypt  and  Mexico. 

The  people  had  borne  with  patience  all  the  injuries  and  af- 
fronts hitherto  put  on  them  by  the  Spaniards.  They  had  seen 
their  sovereign  dragged  as  a  captive  from  his  own  palace  ; 
his  ministers  butchered  before  his  eyes ;  his  treasure  seized  and 
appropriated;  himself  in  a  manner  deposed  from  his  royal  su- 
premacy. All  this  they  had  seen  without  a  struggle  to  prevent 
it.  But  the  profanation  of  their  temples  touched  a  deeper  feel- 
ing, of  which  the  priesthood  were  not  slow  to  take  advantage.'" 

23  This  transaction  is  told  with  more  discrepancy  than  usual  by  the  differ- 
ent writers.  Cortes  assures  the  Emperor  that  he  occupied  the  temple,  and 
turned  out  the  false  gods  by  force,  in  spite  of  the  menaces  of  the  Mexicans. 
(Rel.  Seg. ,  ap.  Lorenzana,  p.  io6. )  The  improbability  of  this  Quixotic  feat 
startles  Oviedo,  who  nevertheless  reports  it.  (Hist,  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib. 
33,  cap.  10.)  It  looks,  indeed,  very  much  as  if  the  general  was  somewhat 
too  eager  to  set  off  his  militant  zeal  to  advantage  in  the  eyes  of  his  master. 
The  statements  of  Diaz,  and  of  other  chroniclers,  conformably  to  that  in  the 
text,  seem  far  the  most  probable.  Comp.  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  ubi 
supra. — Herrera,  Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  8,  cap.  6. — Argensola,  Anales, 
lib.  r,  cap.  88. 

^*  Para  mi  yo  tengo  por  marabilla,  e  grande,  la  mucha  paciencia  de  Monte- 
zuma, y  de  I03  Indios  principales,  cjue  assi  vireon  tratar  sus  Templos,  e 
Idolos:  Mas  su  disimulacion  adelante  se  mostr6  ser  otra  cosa  viendo,  que 
vna  Gente  Extrangera,  i  de  tan  poco  ruimero,  les  prendio  su  Seiiore  e  por- 
que  formas  los  hacia  tributaries,  i  se  castigaban  e  queniaban  los  j)r:ncip:i!cs, 


DISCONTENTS  OF  THE  AZTECS. 


45  « 


The  first  intimation  of  this  change  of  feeling  was   gathered 

from  Montezuma  himself.  Instead  of  his  usual  cheerfulness,  he 
appeared  grave  and  abstracted,  and  instead  of  seeking,  as  he  was 
wonc,  the  society  of  the  Spaniards,  seemed  rather  to  shun  it. 
it  was  noticed,  too,  that  conferences  were  more  frequent  betweea 
him  and  the  nobles,  and  especially  the  priests.  His  little  page, 
Orreguilla,  who  had  now  picked  up  a  tolerable  acquaintance 
with  the  Aziec,  contrary  to  Montezuma's  usual  practice,  was  not 
allowed  to  attend  him  at  these  meetings.  These  circumstances 
could  not  fail  to  awaken  most  uncomfortable  apprehensions  in 
the  Spaniards. 

Not  many  days  elapsed,  however,  before  Cortdz  received  an 
invitation,  or  rather  a  summons,  from  the  emperor,  to  attend  him 
in  his  apartment.  The  general  went  with  some  feelings  of  anxi- 
ety and  distrust,  taking  with  him  Olid,  captain  of  the  guard,  and 
two  or  three  other  trusty  cavaliers.  Montezuma  received  them 
with  cold  civility,  and,  turning  to  the  general,  told  him  that  all  his 
predictions  had  come  to  pass.  The  gods  of  his  country  had 
keen  offended  by  the  violatiot)  of  their  temples.  They  had 
threatened  the  priests,  that  they  would  forsake  the  city,  if  the 
sacrilegious  strangers  were  not  driven  from  it,  or  rather  sacri- 
ficed on  the  altars,  in  expiation  of  their  ciimes."^  The  monarch 
assured  the  Christians,  it  was  from  regard  to  their  safety,  that  he 
communicated  this ;  and,  "  if  you  have  any  regard  for  it  your- 
selves, "  he  concluded,  "  you  will  leave  the  country  without 
delay.  I  have  only  to  raise  my  finger,  and  every  Aztec  in  the 
land  will  rise  in  arms  against  you."  There  was  no  reason  to 
doubt  his  sincerity.  For  Montezuma,  whatever  evils  had  been 
brought  on  him  by  the  v^hite  men,  held  them  in  reverence  as  a 
race  more  highly  gifted  than  his  own,  while  for  several,  as  we 

«■  se  aniquilaban  y  dissipaban  sus  tempios,  e  hasta  en  equellos  y  sus  ante- 
cesores  estaban.  Recia  cosa  me  jjarece  sopoitarla  con  lanta  quietud;  pero 
adelante,  conio  lo  dir4  la  ilistoria,  niostr6  el  tiempo  lo  que  en  el  pecho 
estaba  Mcuito  en  todos  los  Tndios  genera'.mente."  llist.de  las  Ind.,  MS., 
lib.  33,  cap.  lo. 

^  According  to  Herrera,  it  was  the  Devil  himself  who  communicated  tiiis 
to  Montezuma,  and  he  reports  the  substance  of  the  dialogue  between  the 
parties.  (Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  9,  cap.  6.)  Indeed,  the  apparition  of 
Satan  in  his  own  bodily  presence,  on  this  occasion,  is  stoutly  maintained  by 
m'ist  historians  of  the  lime.  Oviedo,  a  man  of  enlarged  ideas  on  most  sub- 
jet.ts,  speaks  with  a  little  'more  qualification  on  this.  "  Porque  la  Misa  y 
f^vangelio,  que  ])redicaban  y  decian  los  christianos,  le  [al  Diablo]  dabau  gran 
tonnento;  y  deb^-se  pensar,  si  verc'.ad  es,  que  esas  gcntes  tieneii  tanta  con- 
versacion  y  comunicacion  con  nucstro  2id\tT^zx\o,como  se  titne  por  cierio  en 
ts/as  Indias^  que  no  le  podia  a  nuestro  enemigo  placer  con  los  misterios  y 
•acramentos  ae  la  sagrada  religion  chriitiana. "  Hist,  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib. 
33.  cap.  47 


452 


RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 


have  seen,  he  had  conceived  an  attachment,  flowing  no  doubt; 
from  their  personal  attentions  and  deference  to  himself. 

Cortes  was  too  much  master  of  his  feelings,  to  show  how  far 
he  was  startled  by  this  intelligence.  He  replied  with  admirable 
coolness,  that  he  should  regret  much  to  leave  the  capital  so  pre- 
cipitately, when  he  had  no  vessels  to  take  him  from  the  country. 
If  it  were  not  for  this,  there  could  be  no  obstacle  to  his  leaving 
it  at  once.  He  should  also  regret  another  step  to  w^hich  he 
should  be  driven,  if  he  quitted  it  under  these  circumstances,— 
that  of  taking  the  emperor  along  with  him. 

Montezuma  was  evidently  troubled  by  this  last  suggestion. 
He  inquired  how  long  it  would  take  to  build  the  vessels,  and 
finally  consented  to  send  a  sufficient  number  of  workmen  to  the 
coast,  to  act  under  the  orders  of  the  Spaniards  ;  meanwhile,  he 
would  use  his  authority  to  restrain  the  impatience  of  the  people, 
under  the  assurance  that  the  white  men  would  leave  the  land 
when  the  means  for  it  were  provided.  He  kept  his  word.  A 
large  body  of  Aztec  artisans  left  the  capital  with  the  most  exper- 
ienced Castilian  ship-builders,  and,  descending  to  Vera  Cruz, 
began  at  once  to  fell  the  timber  and  budd  a  sufficient  number  of 
ships  to  transport  the  Spaniards  back  to  their  own  country.  The 
work  went  forward  with  apparent  alaciity.  But  those  who  had 
the  direction  of  it,  it  is  said,  received  private  instructions  from 
the  general,  to  interpo:,e  as  many  delays  as  possible,  in  hopes 
of  receiving  in  the  mean  time  such  reinforcements  from  Europe, 
as  would  enable  him  to  maintain  his  ground.^ 

The  whole  aspect  of  things  was  now  changed  in  the  Castilian 
quarters.  Instead  of  the  security  and  repose  in  which  the  troops 
had  of  late  indulged,  they  felt  a  gloomy  apprehension  of  danger, 
not  the  less  oppressive  to  the  spirits,  that  it  was  scarcely  visible 
to  the  eye  ; — like  the  faint  speck  just  descried  above  the  horizon 
by  the  voyager  in  the  troj)ics,  to  the  common  gaze  seeming  only 
a  summer  cloud,  but  which  to  the  experienced  mariner  bodes 
the  coming  of  the   hurricane.     Every  precaution   that  prudence 

*  "  E  Cortes  proveio  de  maestros  e  personas  que  entendiesen  en  la  labor 
de  los  Navios,  e  dixo  despues  a  los  Espanoles  desta  manera  :  Senores  y  her- 
manos,  este  Senor  Montezuma  quiere  que  nos  vamos  de  la  tierra,  y  conviene  que 
se  hagan  Navi'os.  Id  con  estos  Indios  e  cortese  lamadera;  e  entretanto  Dios 
nos  provehera  de  gente  e  socorro  ;  por  tanto,  poned  tal  dilacion  que  parezca 
que  haceis  algo  y  se  haga  con  ella  lo  que  nos  conviene  ;  e  siempre  me  escrivid 
e  avisad  que  tales  estais  en  la  Montana,  e  que  no  sientan  los  Indius  nuestra 
dis!mulacion.  E  asl  se  puso  por  obra."  (Oviedo,  Hist,  de  las  Ind.,  MS., 
lib.  -1,1,  cap.  47.)  So,  also,  Gomara.  (Cronica,  cap.  95.)  Diaz  denies  any 
such  secret  orders,  alleging  that  Martin  Lopez,  the  principal  builder,  assured 
him  they  made  all  the  expedition  possible  in  getting  thre«  ships  on  th«  stocks. 
Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  eap,  108. 


DISCONTENTS  OF  THE  AZTECS.  ^j 

could  devise  was  taken  to  meet  it.  The  soldier,  as  he  threw 
himself  on  his  mats  for  repose,  kept  on  his  armor.  He  ate, 
drank,  slept,  with  his  weapons  by  his  side.  His  horse  stood 
ready  caparisoned,  day  and  night,  with  the  bridle  hanging  at 
the  saddle-bow.  The  guns  were  carefully  planted  so  as  to  com- 
mand the  great  avenues.  The  sentinels  were  doubled,  and  every 
man,  of  whatever  rank,  took  his  turn  in  mounting  guard.  The 
garrison  was  in  a  state  of  siege.'"  Such  was  the  uncomfortable 
position  of  the  army,  when,  in  the  beginning  of  May,  1520,  six 
months  after  their  arrival  in  the  capital,  tidings  came  from  the 
coast,  which  gave  greater  alarm  to  Cortds,  than  even  the  men- 
aced insurreciion  of  the  Aztecs. 

'"  '•  I  may  say  without  vaunting,"  observes  our  stout  hearted  old  chroniclerj 
Bernal  Diaz,  "  that  I  was  so  accustomed  to  this  way  of  life,  that  siiice  the 
conquest  of  the  country  I  have  never  been  able  to  lie  down  undressed,  or  in 
a  ;)ed:  vet  I  sleep  as  sound  as  it  1  were  on  the  softest  down.  Even  when  I 
make  the  rounds  of  my  encomienda,  I  never  take  a  bed  with  me;  unless  in- 
deed 1  go  in  the  company  of  other  cavaliers,  who  might  impute  this  to  parsi- 
mony. Eut  even  tiv.'u  f  tlirow  mvsclf  on  it  with  my  clothes  on.  Another 
thing  I  must  add,  that  I  cannot  sleep  long  in  the  night  without  getting  up  to 
look  at  the  heavens  and  the  stars,  and  stay  a  while  in  the  open  air,  and  this 
without  a  bonnet  or  covering  of  any  sort  on  my  head.  And,  thanks  to  God, 
I  ha\e  received  no  iiarm  from  it.  I  mention  these  things,  that  the  world 
may  understand  of  wh.at  stuff  we,  the  true  Conquerors  were  made,  and  how 
well  drilled  we  were  to  arms  and  watching."  Hist  de  la  Conqwista, 
rs^.  108. 


^^  RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO, 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Fate  of  Cortes'  Emissaries. — Proceedings  in  the  Castii^- 
lAN  Court. — Preparations  of  Velasquez, — Narvaez  lands 
in  Mexico. — Politic  conduct  of  Cortes. — He  leaves  the 
Capital. 

1520. 

Before  explaining  the  nature  of  the  tidings  alluded  to  in  the 
preceding  chapter,  it  will  be  necessary  to  cast  a  glance  over 
some  of  the  transactions  of  an  earlier  period.  The  vessel,  which, 
as  the  reader  may  remember,  bore  the  envoys  Puertocarrero  and 
Montejo  with  the  despatches  from  Vera  Cruz,  after  touching, 
contrary  to  orders,  at  the  northern  coast  of  Cuba,  and  spreading 
the  news  of  the  late  discoveries,  held  on  its  way  uninterrupted 
towards  Spain,  and  early  in  October,  15 19,  reached  the  little 
port  of  San  Lucar.  Great  was  the  sensation  caused  by  her  ar- 
rival and  the  tidings  which  she  brought ;  a  sensation  scarcely 
inferior  to  that  created  by  the  original  discovery  of  Columbus. 
For  now,  for  the  first  time,  all  the  magnificent  anticipations 
formed  of  the  New  World  seemed  destined  to  be  realized. 

Unfortunately,  there  was  a  person  in  Seville,  at  this  time, 
named  Benito  Martin,  chaplain  of  Velasquez,  the  governor  of 
Cuba.  No  sooner  did  this  man  learn  the  arrival  of  the  envoys, 
and  the  particulars  of  their  story,  than  he  lodged  a  complaint 
with  the  Casa  de  Coiitratacion, — the  Royal  India  House, — charg- 
ing those  on  board  the  vessel  with  mutiny  and  rebellion  against 
the  authorities  of  Cuba,  as  well  as  with  treason  to  the  Crown.i 
In  consequence  of  his  representations,  the  ship  was  taken  pos- 
session of  by  the  public  officers,  and  those  on  board  were  pro- 
hibited from  removing  their  own  effects,  or  anything  else  from 
her.  The  envoys  were  not  even  allowed  the  funds  necessary 
for  the  expenses  of  the  voyage,  nor  a  considerable  sum  remitted 
by  Cortds  to  his  father,  Don  Martin.  In  this  embarrassment 
they  had  no  alternative  but  to  present  themselves,  as  speedily  as 

^  In  the  collection  of  MSS.,  made  by  Don  Vargas  Pon^e,  former  Presi- 
dent of  the  Academy  of  History,  is  a  Memorial  of  this  same  Benito  Martin 
to  the  Emperor,  setting  forth  the  services  of  Velasquez,  and  tlie  ingratitude 
and  revolt  of  Cortes  and  his  followers.  The  paper  is  without  date;  written 
after  the  arrival  of  the  envoys,  probably  at  the  close  of  1519,  or  the  begir.r.irig 
of  the  following  year. 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  CASTILIAN  COURT. 


♦55 


possible,  before  the  emperor,  deliver  the  letters  with  which  they 
had  been  charged  by  the  colony,  and  seek  redress  for  their  own 
grievances.  They  first  sought  out  Martin  Cortes,  residing  at 
Medellin,  and  with  him  made  the  best  of  their  way  to  court. 

Charles  the  Fifth  was  then  on  his  first  visit  to  Spain  after  his 
accession.  It  was  not  a  long  one  ;  long  enough,  however,  to 
disgust  his  subjects,  and,  in  a  great  degree,  to  alienate  their  af- 
fections. He  had  lately  received  intelligence  of  his  election  to 
the  imperial  crown  of  Germany.  From  that  hour,  his  eyes  were 
turned  to  that  quarter.  His  stay  in  the  Peninsula  was  prolonged 
only  that  he  might  raise  supplies  for  appearing  with  splendor  on 
the  great  theatre  of  Europe.  Every  act  showed  too  plainly  that 
the  diadem  of  his  ancestors  was  held  lightly  in  comparison  with 
the  imperial  bauble  in  which  neither  his  countrymen  nor  his  own 
posterity  could  have  the  slightest  interest.  The  interest  was 
wholly  personal. 

Contrary  to  established  usage,  he  had  summoned  the  Castil- 
ian  cdrtes  to  meet  at  Compostelia,  a  remote  town  in  the  North, 
which  presented  no  other  advantage  than  that  of  being  near  his 
place  of  embarkation.^  On  his  way  thither  he  stopped  some 
time  at  TordesillaS;,  the  residence  of  his  unliappy  mother,  Joanna 
"the  Mad."  It  was  here  that  the  envoys  from  Vera  Cruz  pre- 
sen'.ed  themselves  before  him.  in  March.  1520.  At  nearly  the 
same  time,  tlie  treasures  brought  over  by  them  reached  the  court 
where  they  excited  unbounded  admiration.^  Hitherto,  the  re- 
turns from  the  New  World  had  been  chiefly  in  vegetable  pro- 
ducts, which,  if  the  surest,  are,  also,  the  slowest  sources  of 
wealth.  Of  gold  they  had  as  }ct  seen  but  little,  and  that  in  its 
natural  state  or  wrought  into  the  rudest  trinkets.  The  courtiers 
gazed  with  astonishment  on  the  large  masses  of  the  precious 
metal,  and  the  delicate  manufacture  of  the  various  articles,  espe- 
cially of  the  richly  tinted  feather  work.  And,  as  they  listened 
to  the  accounts,  written  and  oral,  of  the  great  Aztec  empire, 
they  felt  assured  that  the  Castiliaii  ships  had,  at  length,  reached 
the  golden  Indies,  which  hitherto  liad  seemed  to  recede  before 
them. 

In  this  favorable  mood  there  is  Utile  doubt  the  monarch  would 
have  granted  the  petition    of   the    envoys,   and    contlriDed    the 

2  Sanciova!,  indeed,  gives  a  singular  reason, — that  of  l)cin,L;  p.cai  the  coast, 
80  as  to  enable  Chicvres  and  the  other  l*"lcmish  hhiod  suckers,  to  escape 
sucidenly,  if  need  were,  with  their  ill-gotten  trea^ui --,  from  the  nnnUry. 
Hist,  de  Carlos  Quinto,  torn.  T.  p.  203,  ed.   l'ani]il"na.  n'')3t- 

'  See  the  letter  of  Peter  Martyr  to  liis  noble  friend  and  pupil,  il:e  Ma'-  ,ii:s 
de  Mondejar,  written  two  months  after  the  arrival  of  the  vessel  trom  Vera 
Cru/.     (Jpus  lipist.,  ep.  650. 


4S^ 


RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 


irregular  proceedings  of  the  Conquerors,  but  for  the  opposition 

of  a  person  who  held  the  highest  ofnce  in  the  Indian  depart- 
ment. This  was  Juan  Rodriguez  de  Fonseca,  formerly  dean  of 
Seville,  now  bishop  of  Burgos.  He  was  a  man  of  noble  family, 
and  had  been  intrusted  with  the  direction  of  the  colonial  con- 
cerns, on  the  discovery  of  the  New  World.  On  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Royal  Council  of  the  Indies  by  Ferdinand  the 
Catholic,  he  had  been  made  its  president,  and  had  occupied 
that  post  ever  since.  His  long  continuance  in  a  position  of 
great  importance  and  difficulty  is  evidence  of  capacity  for  busi- 
ness. It  was  no  uncommon  thing  in  that  age  to  find  ecclesiastics 
in  high  civil,  and  even  military  employments.  Fonseca  appears 
to  have  been  an  active,  efficient  person,  better  suited  to  a  secu- 
lar than  to  a  religious  vocation.  He  had,  indeed,  little  that  was 
feligious  in  his  temper  ;  quick  to  take  offence  and  slow  to  forgive. 
His  resentments  seem  to  have  been  nourished  and  perpetuated 
like  a  part  of  his  own  nature.  Unfortunately  his  peculiar  posi- 
tion enabled  him  to  display  them  towards  some  of  the  most 
illustrious  men  of  his  time.  From  pique  at  some  real  or  fancied 
slight  from  Columbus,  he  had  constantly  thwarted  the  plans  of 
the  great  navigator.  He  had  shown  the  same  unfriendly  feeling 
towards  the  Admiral's  son,  Diego,  the  heir  of  his  honors ;  and 
he  now,  and  from  this  time  forward,  showed  a  similar  spirit  to- 
wards the  Conqueror  of  Mexico.  The  immediate  cause  of  this 
was  iiis  own  personal  relations  with  Velasquez,  to  whom  a  near 
relative  was  betrothed.  * 

Through  this  prelate's  representations,  Charles,  instead  of  a 
favorable  answer  to  the  envoys  postponed  his  decision  till  he 
should  arrive  at  Coruna,  the  place  of  embarkation.^  But  here  he 
was  much  pressed  by  the  troubles  which  his  impolitic  conduct 
had  raised,  as  well  as  by  preparations  for  his  voyage.  The  trans- 
action of  the  colonial  business,  which,  long  postponed,  had 
greatly  .accumulated  on  his  hands,  was  reserved  for  the  last  week 
in  Spain.  But  the  affairs  of  the  "  young  admiral  "  consumed  so 
large  a  portion  of  this,  that  he  had  no  time  to  give  to  those  of 
Cortds  ;  except,  indeed,  to  instruct  the  board  at  Seville  to  remit 
to  the  envoys  so  much  of  their  funds  as  was  required  to  defray 
the  charges  of  the  voyage.  On  the  i6th  of  May,  1520,  the 
impatient  monarch  bade  adieu  to  his  distracted  kingdom,  with- 

<  Zuniga,  Anales  Eclesiasticos  y  Seculares  de  Sevilla,  (Madrid,  1677,)  foL 
414. — Herrera,  Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  5,  cap.  14;  lib.  9,  cap.  17,  et 
alibi. 

'  Velasquez,  it  appears,  had  sent  home  an  account  of  the  doings  of  Cortes 
and  of  the  vessel  which  tou^..cd  with  the  treasures  at  Cuba,  as  early  u 
October,  1519.     Carta  de  Velasquez  al  Lie.  Figueroa,  MS.,  Nov.  17,  1519. 


PREPARATIONS  Ot^  VELASQUEZ.  45^ 

OUT  one  attempt  to  settle  the  dispute  between  his  belligerent 
vassals  in  the  New  World,  and  without  an  effort  to  promote  the 
magnificent  enterprise  which  was  to  secure  to  him  the  posses- 
sion of  an  empire.  What  a  contrast  to  the  policy  of  his  illustri- 
ous predecessors,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  !  ^ 

The  governor  of  Cuba,  meanwhile,  without  waiting  for  sup- 
port from  home,  took  measures  for  redress  into  his  own  hands. 
We  have  seen,  in  a  preceding  chapter,  how  deeply  he  was 
moved  by  the  reports  of  the  proceedings  of  Cortds,  and  of  the 
treasures  which  his  vessel  was  bearing  to  Spain.  Rage,  mor- 
tification, disappointed  avarice,  distracted  his  mind.  He  could 
not  forgive  himself  for  trusting  the  affair  to  such  hands.  On 
the  very  week  in  which  Cortes  had  parted  from  him  to  take 
charge  of  tlie  fleet,  a  capitulation  had  been  signed  by  Charles  the 
Fifth,  conferring  on  Velasquez  the  tide  of  adelantado,  with  great 
augmentation  of  his  original  powers.''  The  governor  resolved, 
without  loss  of  time,  to  send  such  a  force  to  the  Aztec  coast,  as 
should  enable  him  to  assert  his  new  authority  to  its  full  extent, 
and  to  take  vengeance  on  his  rebellious  officer.  He  began  his 
preparations  as  early  as  October.^  At  first,  he  proposed  to 
assume  the  command  in  person.  But  his  unwieldy  size,  which 
disqualified  him  for  the  fatigues  incident  to  such  an  expedition, 
or,  according  to  his  own  account,  tenderness  for  his  Indian  sub- 
jects, then  wasted  by  an  epidemic,  induced  him  to  devolve  the 
command  on  another.^ 

The  person  whom  he  selected  was  a  Castilian  hidalgo,  named 
Panfilo  de  Narvaez.  He  had  assisted  Velasquez  in  the  reduction 
of  Cuba,  where  his  conduct  cannot  be  wholly  vindicated  from 
the  charge  of  inhumanity,  which  too  often  attaches  to  the  early 
Spanish  adventurers.  From  that  time  he  continued  to  hold  im- 
portant posts  under  the  government,  and  was  a  decided  favorite 
with  Velasquez.  He  was  a  man  of  some  military  capacity,  though 
negligent  and   lax   in  his  discipline.     He  possessed  undoubted 

^  "  Con  gran  miisica,"  says  Sandoval,  bitterly,  "de  todos  los  ministriles  y 
clarines,  recogiendo  las  aiicoras,  dierou  vela  al  vicnto  con  gran  regozijo, 
dexando  a  la  triste  Espana  cargada  de  duclos,  y  desventnras."  Hist,  de 
Cdrlos  Quinto,  torn.  I.  p.  219. 

'  The  instrument  was  datcfl  at  Barcelona,  Nov.  13,  1518.  Cort(^s  left  St. 
Jago  the  iSth  of  the  same  month.  Ilcrrera,  Hist.  General,  dec.  2,  lib.  3, 
can.    ir, 

*  fromara  (Cronica,  cap.  96)  and  Robertson  (History  of  America,  vol.  H, 
pp.  304,  466)  consider  that  the  new  dignity  of  adelautado  ?,X\\\\\\\mc-A  the  go\-er- 
nor  to  this  enterprise,  l^y  a  letter  of  his  own  writing  in  the  Muiioz  collec- 
tion, it  appear  he  had  begun  operations  same  months  ])revious  to  his  recci\'- 
ing  notice  of  his  appointment,  ('arta  de  Velastpiez  al  scnor  de  Xfivres  Ista 
Fernandina,  MS.,  Octubre  12,  ii^r9. 

*  Carta  de  Velasquez  al  Lie.  Figueroa,  MS.  Nov.  17,  1519. 


458  RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 

courage,  but  it  was  mingled  with  an  arrogance,  or  rathet 
overweening  confidence  in  his  own  powers,  which  made  him 
deaf  to  the  suggestions  of  others  more  sagacious  than  himself. 
He  was  altogether  deficient  in  that  prudence  and  calculating 
foresight  demanded  in  a  leader  who  was  to  cope  with  an  antago- 
nist like  Cortes,-"^ 

The  governor  and  his  lieutenant  were  unwearied  in  their 
efforts  to  assemble  an  army.  They  visited  every  considerable 
town  in  the  island,  fitting  out  vessels,  laying  in  stores  and  am- 
munition, and  encouraging  volunteers  to  enlist  by  liberal  prom^ 
ises.  But  the  most  effectual  bounty  was  the  assurance  of  the  rich 
treasures  that  awaited  them  in  the  golden  regions  of  Mexico.  So 
confident  were  they  in  this  expectation,  that  all  classes  and  ages 
vied  with  one  another  in  eagerness  tO  embark  in  the  expedition, 
until  it  seemed  as  if  the  whole  white  population  would  desert  the 
island,  and  leave  it  to  its  primitive  occupants." 

The  report  ''^^  these  proceedings  soon  spread  through  the 
Islands,  and  drew  the  attention  of  the  Royal  Audience  of  St. 
Domingo,  This  body  was  intrusted,  at  that  time,  not  only  with 
the  highest  judicial  authority  in  the  colonies,  but  with  a  civil 
jurisdiction,  which,  as  "  the  Admiral  "  complained,  encroached 
on  his  own  rights.  The  tribunal  saw  with  alarm  the  proposed 
expedition  of  Velasquez,  which,  whatever  might  be  its  issue  in 
regard  to  the  parties,  could  not  fail  to  compromise  the  interests 
of  the  Crov/n.  They  chose  accordingly  one  of  their  number, 
the  licentiate  Ayllon,  a  man  of  prudence  and  resolution,  and 
despatched  him  to  Cuba,  with  instructions  to  interpose  his 
authority,  and  stay,  if  possible,  the  proceedings  of  Velasquez.^ 

On  his  arrival,  he  found  the  governor  in  the  western  part  of 
the  island,  busily  occupied  in  getting  the  fleet  ready  for  sea.  The 
licentiate  explained  to  him  the  purport  of  his  mission,  and  the 
views  entertained  of  the  proposed  enterprise  by  the  Royal  Audi- 
ence. The  conquest  of  a  powerful  country  like  Mexico  required 
the  whole  force  of  the  Spaniards,  and,  if  one  half  were  employed 
against  the  other,  nothing  but  ruin  could  come  of  it.  It  was  the 
governor's  duty,  as  a  good  subject,  to  forego  all  private  animosi- 
ties, and  to  sustain  those  now  engaged  in  the   great  work  by 

''^  The  person  of  Narvaez  is  thus  whimsically  described  by  Diaz.  "  He 
was  tali,  stout  limbed,  with  a  large  head  and  red  beard,  an  agreeable  presence, 
a  voice  deep  and  sonorous,  as  if  it  rose  from  a  cavern.  He  was  a  good 
horseman  and  valiant."     Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  205. 

11  The  danger  of  such  a  result  is  particularly  urged  in  a  memorandum  of 
the  licentiate  Ayllon.  Carta  al  Emperador,  Guaniguanico,  Marzo  4,  1520, 
MS. 

'■^  Processo  y  Pesquiza  hecha  por  la  Real  Audiencia  de  la  Espafiola  Santo 
Domingo,  Diciembre  24,  1519,  MS- 


PREPARATIONS  OF  VALASQUEZ.  455 

sending  them  the  necessary  supplies.  He  might,  indeed, 
proclaim  liis  own  powers,  and  demand  obedience  to  them.  But, 
if  this  were  refused,  he  should  leave  the  determination  of  his 
dispute  to  the  authorized  tribunals,  and  employ  his  resources  in 
prosecuting  discovery  in  another  direction,  instead  of  hazarding 
all  by  hostilites  with  his  rival. 

This  admonition,  however  sensible  and  salutary,  was  not  at 
all  to  the  taste  of  the  governor.  He  |3rofessed,  indeed,  to  have 
no  intention  of  coming  to  hostilities  with  Cortes.  He  designed 
only  to  assert  his  lawful  jurisdiction  over  territories  discovered 
under  his  own  auspices.  At  the  same  time,  he  denied  the  right 
of  Ayllon  or  of  the  Royal  Audience  to  interfere  in  the  matLer. 
Narvaez  was  still  more  refractorv  ;  and,  as  the  tieet  was  now 
ready,  proclaimed  his  intention  to  sail  in  a  few  hours,  in  this 
state  of  things,  the  licentiate,  baffled  in  his  first  purpose  of  stay. 
ing  the  expedition,  determined  to  accompany  it  in  jjerson, 
that  he  might  prevent,  if  possible,  by  his  presence,  an  open 
rupture  between  the  parties.-''^ 

The  squadron  consisted  of  eighteen  vessels,  large  and  small. 
It  carried  nine  hundred  men.  eighty  of  whom  were  cavalry,  eighty 
more  arquebusiers,  one  hundred  and  fifty  crossbow-men,  with  a 
number  of  heavy  guns,  and  a  large  supply  of  ammunition  and 
military  stores.  There  were,  besides,  a  thousand  Indians, 
natives  of  the  island,  who  went  probably  in  a  menial  capacity.^* 
So  gallant  an  armada — with  one  excejition^"' — never  before  rode 
in  the  Indian  seas.  None  to  comi)are  with  it  had  ever  been 
fitted  out  in  the  Western  World. 

Leaving  Cuba  earlv  in  March,  1520,  Narvaez  held  nearly  the 
same  course  as  Cortes,  and  running  down  what  was  then  called 
the  "  island  of  Yucatan."^''  after  a  heavy  tempest,  in  v/hich  some 
of  his  smaller  vessels  foundered,  anchored,  April  23,  off  San 
Juan  de  LTkia.  It  was  the  place  where  Cori^s,  also,  had  first 
landed;  the  sandy  waste  covered  by  the  present  city  of  Vera 
Cruz. 

Here  the  commander  met  with  a  Spaniard,  one  of  those  sent 
by  the  general  from  Mexico,  to  ascertain  the  resources  of  the 

1^'  Parecer  del  I,ic.  Avllon  ai  adclaiUacio  Diego  V(Ias(|ucz,  Isia  Fernaiuiina, 
1520.  MS. 

'■  Kelation  del  Lie.  Ayl'un,  Santo  I)oniinu,o,  30  dc  Agosto,  15:10,  MS.— 
Processo  y  i'esrjui/a  jjor  la  K.  Audiciiiii.  MS. 

According  to  l)ia/,  the  ordnance  aniotiiitcd  to  twentv  <  annoii.  IIi;t.  de  la 
Con(|uista,  cap.  109. 

'■''The  great  fleet  under  ()\ando,  i^^oi.in  which  (^)rft's  had  infcndt  d  to 
enihark   for  the  New  Woild.      Ilerrcra,  Mil.  (  ^m  ral,  (ii  c  i  ,  lil  c  .(,  i  ,,p.  11 

'''  "  De    alli    segiiinio^  cl  \i,igepui    loda  la  cohta    de    la    Isla  dc  \  lu  aian.' 
Relaci<;n  del  Lie.  A',li.;n,  MS. 


46o  RESIDENCE  n7  MEXICO. 

country,  especially,  its  mineral  products.  This  man  came  oa 
board  the  fleet,  and  from  him  the  Spaniards  gathered  the  particu- 
lars of  all  that  had  occurred  since  the  departure  of  the  envoys 
from  Vera  Cruz, — the  march  into  the  interior,  the  bloody  battles 
with  the  Tlascalans,  the  occupation  of  Mexico,  the  rich  treasures 
found  in  it,  and  the  seizure  of  the  monarch,  by  means  of  whicli, 
concluded  the  soldier,  "  Cortds  rules  over  the  land  like  its  own 
sovereign,  so  that  a  Spaniard  may  travel  unarmed  from  one  end 
of  the  country  to  the  other,  without  insult  or  injury."  "  His 
audience  listesed  to  this  marvellous  report  with  speechless  amaze- 
ment, and  the  loyal  indignation  of  Narvaez  waxed  stronger  and 
stronger,  as  he  learned  the  value  of  the  prize  which  had  been 
snatched  from  his  employer. 

He  now  openly  proclaimed  his  intention  to  march  against 
Cortds,  and  punish  him  for  his  rebellion.  He  made  this  vaunt 
so  loudly,  that  the  natives,  who  had  flocked  in  numbers  to  the  camp, 
which  was  soon  formed  on  shore,  clearly  comprehended  that  the 
new  comers  were  not  friends,  but  enemies,  of  the  preceding. 
Narvaez  determined,  also, — though  in  opposition  to  the  counsel 
of  the  Spaniards,  who  quoted  the  example  of  Cortes, — to  estab- 
lish a  settlement  on  this  unpromising  spot ;  and  he  made  the 
necessary  arrangements  to  organize  a  municipality.  He  was  in- 
formed by  the  soldier  of  the  existence  of  the  neighboring  colony 
at  Villa  Rica,  commanded  by  Sandoval,  and  consisting  of  a  few 
invalids,  who,  he  was  assured,  would  surrender  on  the  first  sum- 
mons. Instead  of  marching  against  the  place,  however,  he  de- 
termined to  send  a  peaceful  embassy  to  display  his  powers,  ani 
demand  the  submission  of  the  garrison. -^^ 

These  successive  steps  gave  serious  displeasure  to  Ayllon, 
who  saw  they  must  lead  to  inevitable  collision  with  Cortds 
but  it  was  in  vain  he  remonstrated,  and  threatened  to  lay  the 
proceedings  of  Narvaez  before  the  government.  The  latter, 
chafed  by  his  continued  opposition  and  sour  rebuke,  determined 
to  rid  himself  of  a  companion  who  acted  as  a  spv  on  his  move 
ments.  He  caused  him  to  be  seized  and  sent  back  to  Cuba. 
The  licentiate  had  the  address  to  persuade  the  captain  of  the 
vessel  to  change   her  destination  for  St.  Domingo  ;   and,  when 

^'^  "  La  cual  tierra  salje  c  ha  visto  este  testigo,  fpie  el  dicho  Herna«do 
Cortes  tiene  pacifica,  e  le  sirven  i  obedecen  todoslos  Indios;  e  que  cree  este 
testigo  que  lo  hacen  porcabsaque  el  dicho  Hernando  Cortes  tiene  preso  iun 
Cacique  que  dicen  Montesuma,  que  es  Senor  de  lo  mas  de  la  tierra,  i  lo  que 
este  testigo  alcanza,  al  cual  los  Indios  obedecen,  6  facen  lo  que  les  raanda, 
i  los  Cristianos  andan  por  toda  esta  tierra  seguros.  e  un  solo  Cristiano  la  ha 
jitravesado  toda  sin  temor."     Processo  y  Pesquiza  por  la  R.  Aud^encia,  MS. 

'"  Relacion  del  Lie.  Ayllon,  MS. — Demanda  de  Zavallos  en  nombre  d« 
Narvaez.  MS. 


NARVAEZ  LANDS  LANDS  IN  MEXICO.  461 

he  arrived  there,  a  formal  report  of  his  proceedings,  exhibiting 
in  strong  colors  the  disloyal  conduct  of  the  governor  and  his 
lieutenant,  was  prepared,  and  despatched  by  the  Royal  Audience 
to  Spain.i* 

Sandoval  meanwhile  had  not  been  inattentive  to  the  move- 
ments of  Narvaez.  From  the  time  of  his  first  appearance  on  the 
<oast,  that  vigilant  officer,  distrusting  the  object  of  the  arm- 
ament, had  kept  his  eye  on  him.  No  sooner  was  he  apprised  of 
the  landing  of  the  Spaniards,  than  the  commander  of  Villa  Rica 
sent  off  his  few  disabled  soldiers  to  a  place  of  safety  m  the 
neighborhood.  He  then  put  his  works  in  the  best  posture  of 
defence  that  he  could,  and  prepared  to  maintain  the  place  to  the 
last  extremity.  His  men  promised  to  stand  by  him,  and,  the 
more  effectually  to  fortify  the  resolution  of  any  who  might  falter, 
he  ordered  a  gallows  to  be  set  up  in  a  conspicuous  part  of  the 
town  !     The  constancy  of  his  men  was  not  put  to  the  trial. 

The  only  invaders  of  the  place  were  a  priest,  a  notary,  and 
four  other  Spaniards,  selected  for  the  mission,  already  noticed, 
by  Xarvaez.  Tlie  ecclesiastic's  name  was  Gue\ara,  On  com- 
ing before  Sandoval,  he  made  him  a  formal  address,  in  which  he 
pompously  enumerated  the  services  and  claims  of  Velasquez, 
taxed  Corte's  and  his  adherents  with  rebellion,  and  demanded 
of  Sandoval  to  tender  his  subniissinn,  as  a  loyal  subject,  to  the 
newly  consiiruted  authority  of  Narvaez. 

The  commander  of  La  Villa  Rica  was  so  much  incensed  at 
this  unceremonious  mention  01  Lis  companicns  in  aims,  that  he 
assured  the  revcrerd  envoy,  tiirit  nothiiig  but  respect  for  his 
cloth  sa\"ed  tiim  fr.;m  the  cljaoiiMineiit  he  ineriicd.  Guevara 
now  wax's.d  wroth  in  h.is  turn,  and  called  on  the  notary  to  read 
the  nr.  clamation.  l>i:t  Sand'jval  interposed,  promising  that 
functioiiarv,  liiat.  if  he  axciiijotcci  to  do  so,  v.'ithout  first  produc- 
ing a  •.\arr;;nL  <A  his  au:h,"i!:y  from  the  Crown,  lie  should  be 
souiidi}-  iio^;^-;jd.  Giie\-aia  los:  all  comnuind  of  hiniself  ai  this, 
and  st.i  .:  \\Yi^  on  the  gr-ii:nd  repented  h.is  orders  in  a  mr-'c  per- 
eni;^*:>;- .•  t'  p,c  than  before.  Sandoval  v>as  not  a  man  r  f  n;.4ny 
worris.  He  .-imply  i^emarhoc!,  that  the  instrumeiit  slvaiiu  be 
read  lo  liio  general  hims-ji:  in  ?vIe.\ico.  /\t  the  same  ;;tiic,  he 
ord'.icd  hi:,  men  to  procuie  u  number  of  sturdy  iii?iu-nes.  <iX 
Indian  porturs,  on,  whose  backs  the  unf')nui;ate  j-riest  and  his 
con:panions  were  bound  lil^e  so   many  bales    of   gnods.     They 

1*  Thi?  report  is  to  be  foui id  among  tiic  MS^.  iif  \'aiLas  r'on(;c,  in  rlie 
arrhiv'  s  <;'  Uie  Rw.al  Acatiein;,-  (;f  llistf.-\  It  t  in'iiaces  a  iuiix'.rcfl  and  ten 
folio  /..  .  ^  '1  is  «!. titled,  "El  I'loce^-  .  •,  I'l  srui/:;  hecha  ])Oi- la  Rcil 
Auc!ien'.i.<  <'■  !a  Espanola  <4  tierra  naevameute  debcubierta.  Para  el  Constjo 
de  sju  Ivlajfcbtad."' 

]\r.xi(o  ^o  'SsA.i 


462  RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO, 

were  then  placed  under  a  guard  of  twenty  Spaniards,  and  the 
whole  caravan  took  iis  march  for  the  capital.  Day  and  night 
they  travelled,  stopping  only  to  obtain  fresh  relays  of  carriers  ; 
and  as  they  passed  through  populous  towns,  forests,  and  culti- 
vated fields,  vanishing  as  soon  as  seen,  the  Spaniards,  bewildered 
by  the  strangeness  of  the  scene,  as  well  as  of  their  novel  mode 
of  conveyance,  hardly  knew  whether  they  were  awake  or  in  a 
dream.  In  this  way,  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  day,  they  reached 
the  Tezcucan  lake  in  view  of  the  Aztec  capital.'^^ 

Its  inhabitants  had  already  been  made  acquainted  with  the 
fresh  arrival  of  white  men  on  the  coast.  Indeed,  directly  on 
their  landing,  intelligence  had  been  communicated  to  Mon- 
tezuma, who  is  said  (it  does  not  seem  probable)  to  have  con- 
cealed it  some  days  from  Cortes.^*  At  length,  inviting  him  to  an 
interview,  he  told  him  there  was  no  longer  any  obstacle  to  his 
leaving  the  country,  as  a  fleet  was  ready  for  him.  To  the  in- 
quiries of  the  astonished  general,  Montezuma  replied  by  point- 
ing to  a  hieroglyphical  map  sent  him  from  the  coast,  on  which 
the  ships,  the  Spaniards  themselves,  and  their  whole  equipment, 
were  minutely  delineated.  Cortds,  suppressing  all  emotions 
but  those  of  pleasure,  exclaimed,  "  Blessed  be  the  Redeemer  foi 
his  mercies  !  "  On  returning  to  his  quarters,  the  tidings  were  re- 
ceived by  the  troops  with  loud  shouts,  the  firing  of  cannon,  and 
other  demonstrations  of  joy.  They  hailed  the  new  comers  as  a 
reinforcement  from  Spain.  Not  so  their  commander.  From  the 
first,  he  suspected  them  to  be  sent  by  his  enemy,  the  governor 
of  Cuba.  He  communicated  his  suspicions  to  his  officers, 
through  whom  they  gradually  found  their  way  among  the  men. 
The  tide  of  joy  was  instantly  checked.  Alarming  apprehensions 
succeeded,  as  they  dwelt  on  the  probability  of  this  suggestion, 
and  on  the  strength  of  the  invaders.  Yet  their  constancy  did 
not  desert  them  ;  and  they  pledged  themselves  to  remain  true  to 
their  cause,  and,  come  what  might,  to  stand  by  their  leader.  It 
was  one  of  those  occasions  that  proved  the  entire  influence 
which  Cones  held  over  these  wild  adventurers.  All  doubts 
were  soon  dispelled  by  the  arrival  of  the  prisoners  from  Villa 
Rica. 

One  of  the  convoy,  leaving  the  party  in  the  suburbs,  entered 
the  city,  and  delivered    a  letter  to  the   general   from   Sandoval, 

^  "E  iban  ©spantados  de  que  veian  titas  ciudades  y  pueblos  grandes,  que 
les  traian  de  comer,  y  vnos  los  dexavan,  y  otros  los  tomavan,  y  andar  por  su 
camino.  Dize  que  iban  pensando  si  era  encantamiento,  6  sueiio. "  Bernal 
Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  iii. — Demanda  de  Zavallos,  MS. 

■•'1  "Ya  auia  tres  diasquelo  sabia  el  Montecuma,  y  Cortes  no  sabia  cosa 
ninguna.  BernaJ  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  no. 


POL/TIC  CONDUCT  OF  CORTES.  ^gj 

acquainting  him  with  all  the  particulars.  Cortes  instantly  sent 
to  the  prisoners,  ordered  them  to  be  released,  and  furnished 
them  with  horses  to  make  their  entrance  into  the  capital, — a 
more  creditable  conveyance  than  the  backs  oitamancs.  On  their 
arrival,  he  received  them  with  marked  courtesy,  apologized  for 
the  rude  conduct  of  his  otTtcers,  and  seemed  desirous  by  the 
most  assiduous  attentions  to  soothe  the  irritation  of  their  minds. 
He  showed  his  good-will  still  further  by  lavishing  presents  on 
Guevara  and  his  associates,  until  he  gradually  wrought  such  a 
change  in  their  dispositions,  that,  from  enemies,  he  converted 
them  into  friends,  and  drew  forth  many  important  particulars 
respecting  not  merely  the  designs  of  their  leader,  but  the  feelings 
of  his  army.  The  soldiers,  in  general,  they  said,  far  from  desir- 
ing a  rupture  with  those  of  Cortes,  would  willingly  cooperate 
with  them,  were  it  not  for  their  commander.  They  had  no  feel- 
ings of  resentment  to  gratify.  Their  object  was  gold.  The 
personal  influence  of  Narvaez  was  not  great,  and  his  arrogance 
and  penurious  temper  had  already  gone  far  to  alienate  from  him 
the  affections  of  his  followers.  These  hints  were  not  lost  on  the 
general. 

He  addressed  a  letter  to  his  rival  in  the  most  conciliatory 
terms.  He  besought  him  not  to  proclaim  their  animosity  to  the 
world,  and,  by  kindling  a  spirit  of  insubordination  in  the  natives, 
unsettle  all  that  had  been  so  far  secured.  A  violent  'collision 
must  be  prejudicial  even  to  the  victor,  and  might  be  fatal  to 
both.  It  was  only  in  union  that  thev  could  look  for  success. 
He  was  ready  to  greet  Xarvaez  as  a  brother  in  arms,  to  share 
wi'h  him  the  fruits  of  conquest,  and,  if  lie  could  produce  a  royal 
commission,  to  submit  to  his  authorilv. — Cortt5s  well  knew  he 
had  no  sucli  C(jnnnission  to  show." 

Soon  after  the  departure  of  Guevara  and  his  comrades,  ^•' 
the  general  determined  to  send  a  special  envoy  of  his  own.  The 
person  seiectcd  for  this  delicate  otfice  was  father  Olinedo,  who, 
through  tlie  campaign,  had  shown  a  ]:)rac;ical  good  seiisi.',  and  a 
talent  for  affair>.  not  alwavs  to  be  found  in  persons  oi  his  spir- 
itual calling,  lie  was  inirusied  with  anoiiicr  epistle  to  Xarvae/, 
of  similar  import  with  the  preceding.  Corics  wrote,  also,  to  ilic 
vicentiate  A\iloi),  with  whose  dci)ai';ure  he  was  not  accjuainied, 
and  to  .Andres  de  lJuer(,>,  former  secreiaiy  of  W-lascjuez,  ami  his 

22  Oviedo.  Hist,  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  j].  rap.  .);•.  —  MA.  Scy.  do  Cortrs, 
ap.    I  .orcii/.aii;i,  ]<ji.    I17-IJ:). 

-'  "'Our  comiiKuidcr  s;i  d  so  nianv  kuxi  rhinns  to  tlicm,"  s,i\s  I)i,i/,  '*  a:i  i 
anointed  thfir  fitf^i-r.i  so  i)l'-iUifuil'.-  with  s^'.ld.  that,  tli' aii;ii  ihf,-  came  liku 
ro.iring  lions,  they  weiU  home  jn.-rtccily  laiut;  !  "  liistdc  \x  CcjiiijuisUi,  cap, 
III. 


464  RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 

own  friend,  who  had  come  over  in  the  present  fleet.  01me<w 
was  instructed  to  converse  with  these  persons  in  private,  as  well 
as  with  the  principal  officers  and  soldiers,  and,  as  far  as  possible 
to  infuse  into  them  a  spirit  of  accommodation.  To  give  greater 
weight  to  his  arguments,  he  was  furnished  with  a  liberal  supply 
of  gold. 

During  this  time,  Narvaez  had  abandoned  his  original  design 
of  planting  a  colony  on  the  sea-coast,  and  had  crossed  the 
country  to  Cempoalla,  where  he  had  taken  up  his  quarters.  He 
was  here,  when  Guevara  returned,  and  presented  the  letter  of 
Cortes. 

Narvaez  glanced  over  it  with  a  look  of  contempt,  which  was 
changed  into  one  of  stern  displeasure,  as  his  envoy  enlarged  on 
the  resources  and  formidable  character  of  his  rival,  counselling 
him,  by  all  means,  to  accept  his  proffers  of  amity.  A  different 
effect  was  produced  on  the  troops,  who  listened  with  greedy 
ears  to  the  accounts  given  of  Cortes,  his  frank  and  liberal  man- 
ners, which  they  involuntarily  contrasted  with  those  of  their  own 
commander,  the  wealth  in  his  camp,  where  the  humblest  private 
could  stake  his  ingot  and  chain  of  gold  at  play,  where  all  revel- 
led in  plenty,  and  the  life  of  the  soldier  seemed  to  be  one  long 
holiday.  Guevara  had  been  admitted  only  to  the  sunny  side  of 
the  picture. 

The  impression  made  by  these  accounts  was  confirmed  by  the 
presence  of  Olmedo.  The  ecclesiastic  delivered  his  missives, 
in  like  manner,  to  Narvaez,  who  ran  through  their  contents  with 
feelings  of  anger  which  found  vent  in  the  most  opprobrious  in- 
vectives against  his  rival ;  while  one  of  his  caplains,  named 
Salvatierra,  openly  avowed  his  intention  to  cut  off  ^he  rebel's 
ears,  and  broil  them  for  his  breakfast  !  ^^  Such  impotent  sallies 
did  not  alarm  the  stout-hearted  friar>  who  soon  entered  into 
comniunica'.ion  with  many  of  the  officers  and  soldiers,  whom  he 
found  better  inclined  to  an  accommodation.  His  insinuating;' elo- 
quence, backed  by  his  liberal  largesses,  gradually  opened  a  way 
into  their  hearts,  aryd  a  party  was  formed,  under  the  very  e\e  of 
'■.heir  chief,  better  affected  to  his  rival's  interests  than  tu  his  own. 
The  intrigue  could  not  be  conducted  so  secretly  as  wholly  to 
elude  tjie  suspicions  of  Narvaez,  who  would  have  arrested  Ol- 
medo and  placed  him  under  conlinemenl,  but  for  the  interposi- 
tion of  Duero.  He  put  a  stop  to  his  further  machinations  by 
sending  him  back  again  to  his  master.  But  the  poison  was  left 
to  do  its  work. 

Narvaez  made  the  same  vaunt,  as  at  his  landing,  of  his  design 
to  march  against  Cortes  and  apprehend  him  as  a  traitor.  The 
^  Ibid.,  cap.  112. 


POLITIC  CONDUCT  OF  CORTES.  46 J 

Cempoallans  learned  with  astonishment  that  their  new  guests, 
though  the  counirymen,  were  enemies  of  their  former.  Nar» 
vaez,  also,  proclaimed  his  intention  to  release  Montezuma  from 
captivity,  and  restore  him  to  his  throne.  It  is  said,  he  received 
a  rich  present  from  the  Aztec  emperor,  who  entered  into  a  cor- 
respondence with  him.'-^  That  Montezuma  should  have  treated 
him  with  his  usual  munificence,  supposing  him  to  be  the  friend 
of  Cortes,  is  very  probable.  But  that  he  should  have  entered 
into  a  secret  communication,  hostile  to  the  general's  interests, 
is  too  repugnant  to  the  whole  tenor  of  his  conduct,  to  be 
lightly  admitted. 

These  procQedings  did  not  escape  the  watchful  eye  of  Sando- 
val. He  gathered  the  particulars  partly  from  deserters,  who  fled 
to  Villa  Rica,  and  partly  from  his  own  agents,  who  in  the  dis- 
guise of  natives  mingled  in  the  enemy's  camp.  He  sent  a  full 
account  of  them  to  Cortds,  acquainted  him  with  the  growing  de- 
fection of  the  Indians,  and  urged  him  to  take  speedy  measures 
for  the  defence  of  Villa  Rica,  if  he  would  not  see  it  fall  into  the 
enemy's  hands.     The  general  felt  that  it  '.vas  time  to  act. 

Yet  the  selection  of  the  course  to  be  pursued  was  embarrass- 
ing in  the  extreme.  If  he  remained  in  Ivlexico  and  awaited 
there  the  attack  of  his  rival,  it  would  give  the  latter  time  to 
gather  round  him  the  whole  forces  of  the  empire,  including  those 
of  the  capital  itself,  all  willing,  no  doubt,  to  serve  under  the 
banners  of  a  chief  who  proposed  the  liberation  of  their  master. 
The  odds  were  too  great  to  be  hazarded. 

If  he  marched  against  Narvaez,  he  must  either  abandor.  the 
city  and  the  empeior,  the  fruit  of  all  his  toils  and  triumphs,  or, 
by  !i:v,\ng  a  garii.-jon  to  hold  them  in  awe,  must  cripple  his 
stren:.'-: h  already  far  too  weak  to  cope  with  that  of  his  adversary. 
Vet  on  this  latter  course  he  decided.  He  trusted  less,  perhaps, 
to  an  open  encounter  of  arms,  than  to  the  ititiuence  of  his  per- 
sona! address  and  previous  intrigues,  to  bring  about  an  amicable 
arrangement.     But  he  prepared  himself  for  either  result. 

in  the  urecedmg  chapter,  it  was  mentioned  that  Velasquez  de 
Leon  was  sent  with  a  hundred  and  fifty  men  to  plant  a  colonv  on 
one  of  the  great  rivers  emptying  into  the  Mexican  Gulf.  Cortes, 
on  learning  the  arrival  of  Narvaez,  had  despatched  a  messenuer 
to  ills  officer,  to  acquaint  him  with  the   fact,  and   to   arrest  his 

-  Ibid.,  cap.  111.  Dviedo  S.1VS  that  Montezuma  called  a  council  of  lis 
T^fbles.  in  which  it  was  decided  to  let  the  troops  of  Narvaez  into  the  capital, 
ai.:|  then  to  crush  tiicni  at  onuhlow,  wiih  liinse  <;f  Cortes  1  (Hist,  de  la.s  Ii.d., 
MS.,  lib.  3:^  cap.  47.)  (Joii->:(l-rini:  tii.-  awe  in  whicli  the  laiier  alone  were 
held  ijy  the  Me-xicans.  a  rnor-  iiuprolKiljl':  tale  could  not  be  devised,  i'ut 
nothing  is  tfjo  ini[jrobaljIe  for  history, — though,  according  to  iJoileau's  maxira, 
it  nnav  be  for  fi-  tion. 


466  RESIDENCE  IN  MEXICO. 

further  progress.  But  Velasquez  had  already  received  notice  of 
it  from  Narvaez  himself,  who,  in  a  letter  written  soon  after  his 
landing,  had  adjured  him  in  the  name  of  his  kinsman,  the 
governor  of  Cuba,  to  quit  the  banners  of  Cortes,  and  come  over 
to  him.  That  officer,  however,  had  long  since  buried  the  feel- 
ings of  resentment  which  he  had  once  nourished  against  his 
general,  to  whom  he  was  now  devotedly  attached,  and  who  had 
honored  him  throughout  the  campaign  with  particular  regard. 
Cortes  had  early  seen  the  importance  of  securing  this  cavalier  to 
his  interests.  Without  waiting  for  orders,  Velasquez  abandoned 
his  expedition,  and  commenced  a  countermarch  on  the  capital, 
when  he  received  the  general's  commands  to  wait  him  in 
Cholula. 

Cortes  had  also  sent  to  the  distant  province  of  Chinantla, 
situated  far  to  the  south-east  of  Cholula,  for  a  reinforcement  of 
two  thousand  natives.  They  were  a  bold  race,  hostile  to  the 
Mexicans,  and  had  offered  their  services  to  him  since  his  resi- 
dence in  the  metropolis.  They  used  a  long  spear  in  battle, 
longer,  indeed,  than  that  borne  by  the  Spanish  or  German  in- 
fantry. Cortes  ordered  three  hundred  of  their  double-headed 
lances  to  be  made  for  him,  and  to  be  tipped  with  copper  instead 
of  itzili.  With  this  formidable  weapon  he  proposed  to  foil  the  cav- 
alry of  his  enemy. 

The  command  of  the  garrison,  in  his  absence,  he  intrust- 
ed to  Pedro  de  Alvarado, — the  Tofiatiuh  of  the  Mexicans, 
— a  man  possessed  of  many  commanding  qualities,  of  an  in- 
trepid, though  somewhat  arrogant  spirit,  and  his  warm  personal 
friend.  He  inculcated  on  him  moderation  and  forbearance.  He 
was  to  keep  a  close  watch  on  Montezuma,  for  on  the  possession 
of  the  royal  person  rested  all  their  authority  in  the  land.  He 
was  to  show  him  the  deference  alike  due  to  his  high  station,  and 
demanded  by  policy.  He  was  to  pay  uniform  respect  to  the  usages 
and  the  prejudices  of  the  people  ;  remembering  that  though  his 
small  force  would  be  large  enough  to  overawe  them  in  times  of 
quiet,  yet,  should  they  be  once  roused,  it  would  be  swept  away 
like  chaff  before  the  whirlwind. 

From  Montezuma  he  exacted  a  promise  to  maintain  the  same 
friendly  relations  with  his  lieutenant  which  he  had  preserved  to- 
wards himself.  This,  said  Cortes,  would  be  most  grateful  to  his 
own  master,  the  Spanish  sovereign.  Should  the  Aztec  prince  do 
otherwise,  and  lend  himself  to  any  hostile  movement,  he  must 
be  convinced  that  he  would  fall  the  first  victim  of  it. 

The  emperor  assured  him  of  his  continued  good-will.  He 
was  much  perplexed,  however,  by  the  recent  events.  Were  the 
Spaniards  at  his  court,  or  those  just  landed,  the  true  represery 


HE  LEAVES  THE  CAPITAL.  45J 

tatives  of  iheir  sovereign  ?  Cortes,  who  had  hitherto  maintain« 
ed  a  reserve  on  the  subject,  now  told  him  tliat  the  latter  were 
indeed  his  countrymen,  but  traitors  to  his  master.  As  such,  it 
was  his  painful  duty  to  march  against  them,  and,  when  he  had 
chastised  their  rebellion,  he  should  return,  before  his  departure 
from  the  land,  in  triumph  to  the  capital,  Montezuma  offered  to 
support  him  with  live  thousand  Aztec  warriors  ;  but  the  general 
declined  it,  not  choosing  to  encumber  himself  with  a  body  of 
doubtful,  perhaps  disaffected,  auxiliaries. 

He  left  in  garrison,  under  Alvarado,  one  hundred  and  forty 
men,  two  thirds  of  his  whole  force."^  With  these  remained  all 
tiie  artillery,  the  greater  part  of  the  little  body  of  horse,  and 
most  of  the  arquebusiers.  He  took  with  him  only  seventy 
soldiers,  but  they  were  men  of  the  most  mettle  in  the  army  and 
aiid  his  staunch  adherents.  They  were  lightly  armed  and  en- 
cumbered with  as  little  baggage  as  possible.  Every  thing  de- 
pended on  celerity  of  movement. 

Montezuma,  in  his  royal  litter  borne  on  the  shoulders  of  his 
nobles,  and  escorted  by  the  whole  Spanish  infantr\-,  accompanied 
the  general  to  the  causeway.  There,  embracing  him  in  the  most 
cordial  manner,  they  parted,  with  all  the  external  marks  of  mu- 
tual regard. — It  was  about  the  middle  of  May,  1520,  more  than 
six  months  since  the  entrance  of  the  Spaniards  into  Mexico. 
During  this  time  they  had  lorded  it  over  the  land  with  absoUue 
sway.  They  were  nov/  leaving  the  city  in  hostile  array,  not 
against  an  Indian  foe,  but  their  own  countrymen.  It  was  the 
beginning  of  a  long  career  of  calam.ity, — checkered,  indeed,  by 
occasiorial  triumphs, — which  was  yet  to  be  run  before  the  Con- 
quest could  be  completed.'-'^ 

-'"'  In  the  Mexican  edition  of  the  letters  of  Cortes  it  is  called  five  hundred 
men.  (kel.  Se^^'.,  ap.  I.orenzana,  p.  122.)  But  this  was  more  than  his 
wliule  Spanish  force.  In  Raniivsio's  version  of  the  same  letter,  printed  as 
early  as  I5''>5,  llic  nimiher  is  slated  as  in  the  text.  (Navigationi  et  Viaggi, 
£ol.  244.  In  an  instrument  without  ciate,  containing  the  at'tidavils  of  certain 
witnesses  as  to  the  management  of  the  royal  fifth  bv  Cortes,  it  is  said,  there 
were  one  hundred  and  fifty  soldiers  left  in  the  cai^ital  under  Alvarado. 
(I'robanza  fecha  en  la  nueva  lCs])aria  del  niar  oce-ano  a  pediniento  de  Juan 
Ochoa  de  I.exaide,  en  nornbre  de  ilernaudo  Cortes,  M.S.)  I'he  account  in 
the  Mexican  edition  is  un  juestioiiabh'  an  error, 

-'  Carta  de  Villa  de  Vera  Cruz  a  cl  Mniiierad'ir.  MS.  This  letter  without 
date  was  |:)robabi\-  written  in  1520. — See,  also,  for  the  j^receding  pages,  Pro- 
hiatiza  fech  a  pedimento  de  Juan  (((dma,  MS., — IJerrcra.  llist.  tJeneral,  dec. 
2,  lib.  9,  cap.  I,  21;  lib.  10,  raj),  r, — Kel.  Seg.  de  Cortes,  ap.  Lorcnzani, 
pp.  119,  120, — Bernal  Diaz,  Hist,  de  la  Conquista,  cap.  Il2-ii^ — Uvicdov 
Ili-.t.  de  las  Ind.,  MS.,  lib.  ^j,  cap.  47. 


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